By Mubasher Bukhari
LAHORE, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Police arrested Aleema Khan, the sister of Pakistan’s jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan at her house in Lahore, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Punjab spokesman said on Sunday, ahead of a planned protest march by the party on September 27.
A notification issued by Lahore’s district administration said she has been arrested and sent to jail for 30 days.
“According to intelligence reports, her presence at any public place will pose a grave threat to public safety,” the district administration said.
Imran Khan’s party has organised a march to Islamabad next week demanding his release.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that the government would do everything it could to stop the protest march.
A close aide to Khan, Zulfi Bukhari, described the arrest of Khan’s sister as “absolutely despicable”.
“The fear of the 27th protest is clearly taking its toll,” Bukhari added.
(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; writing by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; editing by Lincoln Feast and Christina Fincher)
