Lahore police on Friday confirmed that Shahrez Khan, the nephew of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, has been arrested in connection with the May 9, 2023 riots cases, dismissing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) claims that he had been abducted.
“Punjab police have arrested Shahrez Khan. He was wanted in connection with the May 9 cases and will be produced before a court today,” DIG Investigation Zeeshan Raza said in a statement.
“Those involved in anti-state activities do not deserve any leniency,” he added.
The police clarification came after PTI and Imran Khan’s family alleged that Shahrez had been forcibly taken away by men in plain clothes from the Lahore home of his mother, Aleema Khan.
PTI lawyer Rana Mudassar Umar told Dawn: “People dressed in plain clothes entered the house and took Aleema Khan’s son with them. No case has been registered against Shahrez, nor is he related to politics.”
He added that he would approach the Lahore High Court for his recovery.
In a strongly worded party statement, PTI said, “Shahrez Khan, who is an international athlete, was abducted from his bedroom after breaking the doors of the house -- the servants were subjected to brutal violence and Shahrez Khan was tortured in front of his two innocent children after forcibly entering the room.”
The party also claimed he was “stopped from travelling with his wife at Lahore Airport a day before and illegally offloaded.”
Imran Khan’s aide Zulfi Bokhari also condemned the incident, saying: “Cowards in civilian clothing attacked Aleema Khanum's house. They beat up the poor staff and abducted her son Shahrez Khan, who has nothing to do with politics. These are new lows of brutal fascism. We strongly condemn this appalling act. Disgraceful cowards.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur echoed the party’s line, calling it “despicable” and demanding Shahrez’s immediate release.
Shahrez, an Oxford University graduate, is the regional head of Simba Global, an Australia-based linen supplier, and also a triathlete. His mother Aleema Khan has been openly critical of Pakistan’s military establishment.
Imran Khan’s other nephew, Hassan Niazi, was earlier convicted by a military court in a case linked to the May 9 riots, when PTI supporters vandalised several military installations including the Lahore Corps Commander House, Mianwali Airbase, and the ISI building in Faisalabad.
The riots also saw the unprecedented attack on the Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi following Khan’s arrest. The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 in multiple cases.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court granted Imran Khan bail in eight cases related to the May 9 violence.