PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday appeared before the Islamabad Police’s joint investigation team (JIT) for questioning in connection with the terrorism case registered against him.

At around 2pm, Imran arrived at the office of the senior superintendent of police (SSP) on the directives of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) after refusing to appear before the JIT thrice.

He was accompanied by PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Shibli Faraz.

The PTI chief was booked for terrorism under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act for making controversial remarks against Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and officials of the Islamabad Police during a rally in Islamabad on Aug 20.

Earlier this week, the ATC had extended the ex-premier’s bail till September 20 and instructed him to become a part of the investigation.

In his visit to the SSP office today — which lasted for 20 minutes — Imran was given a questionnaire by the JIT.

‘Sea of people to come out’

Speaking to the media before the questioning, Imran said that a “sea of people would be coming out” against the government and the PTI was preparing for it.

“I was silent before because of the economic conditions, the floods came […] so we decided to protest peacefully,” the PTI chief stated, warning that if he gave the call “the government won’t able to bear it”.

“You will not be able to bear the day I give a call, because people are already cursing you […] you go out and public curses you […] PPP in Sindh is hiding.

“This is an imported government, robbers have been imposed on us through a conspiracy,” he said, adding that “free and fair” elections were the only way forward for the country.

Talking about the terror case against him, Imran said that “it is a joke”.

“This is a joke in front of the entire world. Why? Because everyone knows me, there have been headlines across the world that an FIR (first information report) has been registered against Imran Khan on terrorism charges.”

The entire world knows the definition of terrorism charges, he pointed out. “If you are slapping terrorism charges on me for saying that we will take legal action against the custodial torture [of incarcerated PTI leader Shahbaz Gill], then the entire world is laughing at you.”

The PTI chief further alleged that the government was cracking down on people who funded and supported the PTI and registered cases against them through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

“They are trying to close the space for us on media, they banned YouTube […] journalists and anchors they believed supported me are being booked under several charges,” he said

He added that on the one hand, the government was talking about not engaging in politics during floods, but on the other, it was trying its best to “crush” PTI.