LAHORE: The Lahore police arrested on Thursday another nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Imran Khan in a ‘May 9 case.’

A senior officer of investigation police said Shahrez Khan, son of Aleema Khan, was wanted in the 2023 violence which erupted following the arrest of Imran Khan.

Rejecting police claim, PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja said Shahrez had nothing to do with politics.

Shahrez’ father Suhail Khan said his son was doing business and now he was preparing to go abroad to participate in a world triathlon championship. Earlier, Salman Raja said plainclothes men attacked the residence of Aleema Khan and abducted her son Shahrez.

“Aleema Bibi’s home in Lahore has been attacked by men in plainclothes and her son Shahrez abducted,” tweeted Mr Raja.

He also alleged that the intruders harassed Aleema Khan’s family members and even thrashed staff.

PTI lawyer Rana Mudassar told Dawn.com that Shahrez was “kidnapped” from his home in Lahore.

“People dressed in plainclothes entered the house and took Aleema Khan’s son with them,” he claimed. “No case has been registered against Shahrez, nor is he related to politics.”

Mudassar said no information had been given about Shahrez’s whereabouts and that he would approach the Lahore High Court for his recovery.

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram wrote on X: “During an attack, people dressed in plainclothes abducted the son of Aleema Khan from her home.

“We strongly condemn this thuggery and oppression. We demand from the current government and the Chief Justice that her son be immediately recovered and safely returned to her,” he added.

At night, Salman Raja reached the residence of Aleema Khan and told media the men in civvies came in tinted glass vehicles and drove away Shahrez Khan without presenting any warrant. Raja said the “powers that be” were busy in victimising Imran Khan and added Shahrez Khan had nothing to do with politics.

Advocate Hassan Niazi, another nephew of Imran Khan, was convicted in a May 9 case in December last.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2025