Imran Khan Jumped Wall, Escaped To Neighbour's House To Evade Cops: Pak Minister

Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has claimed that former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan jumped his residence's wall and escaped to his neighbour's house to avoid arrest, The News International reported.

Sanaullah's statement comes after Islamabad Police on Sunday arrived in Lahore to arrest Imran Khan. However, the law enforcement officers returned without an arrest as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf told them that he "wasn't home," as per the news report.

According to The News International, Rana Sanaullah said in the press conference, "Yesterday, the team that went to arrest Khan faced a lot of drama. There are rumours that he [Khan] jumped into his neighbours' house [to hide]. After a while, he surfaced from somewhere and delivered a huge speech."

Sanaullah stressed that this was not an appropriate strategy if the police wanted to arrest Imran Khan. He said, "The police went there to inform him about the court's orders. But he is a shameless person."

He added that when the authorities want to arrest and present him before the court, they will do so without hesitation. Rana Sanaullah accused Imran Khan of misusing authority with regard to Toshakhana gifts.

"If the court acquits Imran Khan, we will accept it," Sanaullah said, adding that the government has no desire in arresting him, but he should ensure his appearance before the courts, according to The News International report.

On February 28, Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued Imran Khan a non-bailable arrest warrant for continuously failing to appear before the court in the Toshakhana case.

Meanwhile, a local court in Islamabad rejected PTI Chairman Imran Khan's plea seeking suspension of his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case. Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict reserved after hearing the arguments on an application filed by the PTI chief seeking the cancellation of his warrants, Dawn reported.

According to the court orders, the Islamabad Police team on Sunday, led by a superintendent of police, visited Zaman Park to implement the arrest warrant. However, they failed to arrest him.

Former Pakistan PM had also approached the Lahore High Court on Monday for post-arrest bail in the case. During the hearing, Khan's lawyers Ali Bukhari, Qaiser Imam and Gohar Ali Khan appeared before the court.

"A warrant shall remain enforced until it is cancelled by the court which issued it or until it is executed as per Section 75(2) Cr.P.C," the court order stated as per the Dawn report. It said that the warrant had been issued for Imran's appearance in the trial. However, he did not appear in court even today.

According to Dawn report, the court order further said, "The accused has not surrendered himself before the court till yet and no application for his personal appearance for today is annexed with the [court] record. The accused has not appeared in court for ensuring his appearance in the trial in future, therefore, the application is rejected."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)