LAHORE: Leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Salman Akram Raja and Sardar Latif Khosa were arrested amidst nationwide protests denouncing alleged election manipulation and mandate theft in the general election held on February 8.

PTI members and supporters took to the streets across the country, organizing rallies in various cities of Punjab like Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Karachi, Kandhkot, Tank, among others.

A spokesperson for PTI expressed that the populace would not endorse individuals deemed as the “most corrupt” to assume the positions of president and prime minister against their wishes.

Sardar Latif Khosa was taken into custody by Punjab police in Lahore, coinciding with the commencement of arrests of protesting PTI members. Shehbaz Khosa, in a statement, mentioned the arrest of his father by the station house officer (SHO) Cantt, expressing uncertainty regarding his whereabouts.

Sher Afzal Marwat condemned the arrests as “utterly deplorable and wholly intolerable,” urging Punjab authorities to halt such unjust actions. Hafiz Farhat Abbas, a provincial assembly member supported by PTI, was also arrested during the protests against alleged election irregularities. Similarly, senior PTI leader and lawyer Salman Akram Raja was apprehended in Lahore’s Ichhra locality.

In contrast, PTI asserted that Mian Tariq Mehmood, a party leader, was detained during a protest in Gujranwala. PTI South Punjab President Moin Riaz Qureshi and Multan President Malik Adnan Dogar were also reported having been arrested during a demonstration in Multan.

In anticipation of PTI worker protests, police and Sindh Rangers personnel were stationed outside the Korangi Deputy Commissioner’s office in Karachi.

In Rawalpindi, confrontations occurred between PTI supporters and police when a rally led by Seemabia Tahir was barred from entering the city via the Khanna Pul route.

Additionally, protests were staged in Faisalabad, Vehari, Khushab, Islamabad, Multan, Gujranwala, and other cities.