A Lahore anti-terrorism court granted police 10 days’ physical remand of PTI founder Imran Khan in connection with 12 cases over the May 9 riots.

Countrywide protests erupted on May 9 last year after the paramilitary Rangers whisked away Imran from the Islamabad High Court in a corruption case.

While the protests were underway, social media was flooded with footage of rioting and vandalism at various spots, including the Lahore Corps Commander’s residence and General Headquarters, the army’s head of office in Rawalpindi.

A 13-member team of the Lahore police’s investigation wing had visited Adiala Jail on Saturday to quiz the former prime minister regarding the violence.

Sources said the PTI leader had refused to meet the Lahore police team when they tried to gain access to him to interrogate him about the May 9 cases, in which he was nominated on various offences, including charges of provoking the public against the state.

Lahore Investigation DIG Zeeshan Asghar told Dawn that the police arrested the PTI founder as he was the prime suspect in the 12 cases registered at various police stations in the city. Another senior officer told Dawn that the investigation police arrested the PTI founder in 12 out of the total 16 cases registered by the Lahore police over the May 9 attacks.

Out of the dozen cases registered against the former premier, police officials said that two in particular, which pertained to the attacks on the residence of the Lahore corps commander and the Askari Tower, were the focus of police high-ups.

The cases were registered against Imran over his alleged involvement in the attack on a police station in Shadman, military installations, government properties and officials.

The first information reports were registered with the Sarwar Road, Gulberg, Race Course, Naseerabad, Shadman, and other police stations of Lahore.

Anti-Terrorism Court-I Judge Khalid Arshad conducted the hearing today in which the police requested a 30-day physical remand of the former premier to conduct an investigation on the 12 cases.

Imran was taken on a video call via WhatsApp from Adiala Jail while he was represented by his lawyers Azhar Siddique and Usman Gul who opposed the police’s remand request, saying that the PTI founder had to be presented in person for the process.

The judge reserved his verdict after hearing the arguments and announced it shortly later, granting the police Imran’s 10-day physical remand for five cases at Sarwar Road police station, three at Gulberg police station and one each at Race Course, Shadman, Model Town and Mughalpura police stations.