LAHORE: The Punjab government had made adequate arrangements in unison with NAB and other authorities to arrest Nawaz Sharif and his daughter inside the airport so as to disallow them any contact with their supporters protesting nearby.

Two helicopters, one belonging to the Punjab government and another summoned from Islamabad, and the plane of the chief minister were kept ready near the plane that brought the Sharifs to the Lahore airport from Abu Dhabi. Nearby were parked two bulletproof luxury jeeps to take the Sharifs to Rawalpindi by road in case of any technical fault in the plane or the helicopters.

Men in plainclothes hovered around to control the movement of the Sharifs beyond the waiting machines, and to protect them. Engines of the helicopters, the plane and the luxury bulletproof vehicles were tested several times to ensure that they were in perfect running condition, and would not hamper in any way the quick removal of the Sharifs after their arrest.

They said Section 144 was also imposed late on Friday afternoon around the Multan airport to keep it ready for diverting Mr Nawaz Sharif’s flight there in case of any “unfavourable conditions” in Lahore.

Dispelling the impression that the arrested people could not be shifted to jails after sunset, officials said the father and the daughter were scheduled to be taken directly to the Adiala Jail for fulfillment of all legal requirements.

The requirements included a medical test by NAB immediately after the arrest, warrant of commitment by the court (decision to which jail they were to be kept), and another medical checkup in the jail. “Hopefully all the formalities would be completed under one roof (within Adiala Jail) during the night. Otherwise taking the Sharifs to the NAB court that had convicted them on Saturday morning would mean allowing people to gather there.

Officials said the provincial home department had disallowed a request by police to order house arrest of Mr Shahbaz Sharif, his sons and mother last night to prevent them from going to the airport as the request was made without giving any legal reason for it.

They said under the law one could be put under house arrest after the issuance of one’s detention orders which in this case were not issued before the request for the detention of the Sharif family members was made.

Detaining a former three-time chief minister, his children and mother of Mr Nawaz Sharif was also felt an action that would be hard to justify.

Meanwhile, reports reaching here said PML-N activists clashed with police in different cities. Former MNA Tufail Butt was injured after police baton charged a procession he was reportedly leading in Sahiwal.

Police and PML-N activists clashed at Chenab Pull in Gujrat. In Kharian, the chairman of a union council was injured reportedly at the hands of police. A former MPA was allegedly bundled in Tandlianwala into a police vehicle.

Thokar Niaz Beg Blockade: In Lahore, a long line of transport trucks and trailers was witnessed after police placed huge shipping containers there to block Multan Road at Thokar Niaz Beg. This was done to prevent the PML-N supporters from outstations joining Mr Shahbaz Sharif’s rally in downtown. Travelling people were trapped in the long lines.

“We are stuck here for the past four hours,” driver of goods truck said.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2018