The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: With supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) taking to the streets across Pakistan, there were unprecedented scenes of military establishments, including army headquarters, being stormed by angry party workers over the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
On Tuesday, PTI leader and former Pakistani Prime Minister Khan was taken into custody by paramilitary police outside the Islamabad high court, where he was appearing for a case related to graft charges. The Islamabad police announced on Twitter that he was arrested in the Qadir Trust case, in which land was allegedly allocated for the Al Qadir Trust University in exchange for ensuring the return of £190 million seized in the UK to Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.
As the visuals of Khan being manhandled by a phalanx of Pakistani rangers circulated over social media, there were immediate reports that PTI workers had come out on the streets in response to calls from the rest of the PTI leadership. However, none of the PTI leaders were seen leading any of the protests, which seemed to have spontaneously erupted after the arrest.
The reports of violence and protests continued through the night on social media channels.
A fire broke out at the Lahore office of the ruling political party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. While some journalists in Pakistan attributed the incident to PTI workers, opposition-affiliated Twitter users denied their involvement.
A commercial tower which had high-end establishments also went up in flames.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a highway toll gate was set on fire. Earlier, the police headquarters in Peshawar was set on fire by protestors.
A school belonging to the Frontier Corps was burnt down in the same province.
Immediately after the arrest, the first reports and videos were of PTI workers laying siege on the road outside Khan’s residence at Zaman Park, Lahore.
As the media started to give more details of Khan’s arrest including claims that he was hit by paramilitary police while he was arrested, the number of protests increased incrementally across Pakistan.
There were unprecedented scenes of PTI protestors shaking the outer gate of the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi. A lone woman protestor was first seen shaking the massive iron gates before she was followed by other PTI workers. Then the gates swung open and there was a stream of protestors going inside the premises raising slogans.
As per Pakistani media, police were using teargas shells to disperse protestors even after midnight.
Crowds had also gathered outside the residence of the Corps Commanders in Lahore. They vandalised the premises, with a Twitter user showing that one of the protestors even left with a pet peacock, while another claimed to have taken frozen strawberries from the fridge.
In other cities, there were similar reports about military establishments being targeted.
PTI supporters staged a protest outside the Frontier Corps headquarters in Peshawar.
A large crowd were gathering towards Liberty Chowk in Lahore.
A Dawn correspondent from Lahore shared a video of the demonstration, which he confirmed was shot outside the corps commander’s residence.
Imran Khan’s nephew Hassan Niazi tweeted that PTI workers continue to lay siege at the corps commander’s house. “Scary anger in public. PTI workers trying to stop the public but anger is too much,” he tweeted.
With a relative absence of security outside military premises, there was disquiet even among PTI supporters that they were perhaps being led into a trap. There was a lot of speculation that the military was giving a long rope to the PTI workers so that it would give them an excuse to conduct a major security crackdown.
On various social media channels and messaging applications, PTI workers were coordinating with each other despite the internet shutdown and blockade of apps in various parts of the country. There were high emotions as some of them urged more direct action against the army, while others counselled them to keep a calmer mind to ensure that their priority was the safe release of Imran Khan and asserted that they were not backing any violent steps.
A PTI senator Faisal Javed tweeted that “miscreants” were being planted among the protestors to blame PTI.
Meanwhile, there were reports that PTI workers were being arrested. A TV journalist Shahid Masood tweeted a video clip of the being pushed into a black vehicle by a large number of paramilitary personnel.
According to the PTI, the president of the party’s Sindh chapter, Ali Haider Zaidi, was reportedly “kidnapped” in Karachi.
PTI alleged that the house of another party leader Usman Dar was raided and his elderly mother was manhandled.
A senior Karachi police officer told a local newspaper that 23 PTI activists had been detained in Karachi. The officer explained that the individuals were attempting to proceed towards the “Red Zone” to hold a demonstration outside of sensitive installations. He also stated that several policemen had been injured.
A Twitter user posted videos on social media of teargas firing on the main Karachi highway and another of a police van being set ablaze.
Another Twitter user shared a clip of what appeared to be angry PTI supporters burning posters and banners in an attempt to block the Canal Road near Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
Another social media user tweeted scenes from the window of a tall building overlooking Karachi’s Shahrae Faisal, with angry protestors blocking the city’s main thoroughfare.
Meanwhile, police in various cities were announcing that several of the main roads were the scene of protests.
Interior minister Rana Sanaullah announced that those who trespass and vandalise both private and public property will be met with severe consequences. In a tweet, he stated that law enforcement officials have been instructed to take action against “troublemakers and criminals” as per legal measures. Additionally, the minister emphasised a policy of “zero tolerance” towards individuals who engage in vigilante actions.
The opposition party directed that protests and dharnas should be held throughout the country till the release of Imran Khan.
In Islamabad, PTI instructed that all supporters and leaders to converge at the judicial complex. PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary had stated that the party intended to approach the Supreme Court after the Islamabad high court termed the arrest as legal.
There was also late night announcement of city-wide protests in Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial centre.