Where Is Imran Khan?’ Sisters Allege Police Brutality as Rumours Swirl

GG News Bureau
Islamabad, 26th Nov: Amid swirling rumours about former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s death in jail, his three sisters have alleged that they were “brutally assaulted” by Punjab police while attempting to meet the jailed leader. Khan’s sisters — Noreen Khan, Aleema Khan, and Uzma Khan — said they were manhandled along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail earlier this week.

The former prime minister has been incarcerated at Adiala Jail since 2023. His sisters claimed they have not been allowed to meet him for more than three weeks, fuelling concerns about his health and safety. PTI said the sisters and supporters were sitting outside the jail when police officials “pounced on them” for what it called “their crime of seeking a meeting with Imran Khan”. The party demanded an impartial inquiry into the alleged assault.

In a letter to Punjab police chief Usman Anwar, the sisters described the incident as “brutal and orchestrated”, claiming it was carried out without any provocation. Noreen Niazi alleged that streetlights around the protest site were abruptly turned off, plunging the area into darkness before the assault began.

“At the age of 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground, and dragged across the road, sustaining visible injuries,” she said. According to her, several other women were slapped, dragged and shoved by police.

The sisters accused law enforcement of displaying a “troubling pattern of indiscriminate force” against peaceful citizens over the past three years. They urged the Inspector General of Punjab Police to take strict action against the personnel involved.

Khan, the patron-in-chief of PTI, has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases. For over a month, an undeclared ban has reportedly been in place preventing any visitors — including family members — from meeting him, even as unverified reports of his death continue to circulate online. PTI has claimed that Khan remains in “complete isolation and solitary confinement”.

A member of Khan’s legal team said access to basic items, books and legal consultations is being blocked. “The law of the jungle prevails here, where only the beast who rules has rights. No one else has any rights,” said advocate Khalid Yousaf Chaudry.

Even Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was allegedly denied permission to meet Khan despite making seven attempts, a move PTI attributes to pressure from an unnamed army officer believed to be influencing jail authorities.

Concerns over the former premier’s wellbeing continue to escalate as calls grow for transparency and independent oversight of his detention conditions.