LAHORE, June 4: In a surprise move, police launched a crackdown on opposition leaders and activists in several districts of Punjab in the early hours of Tuesday.

As no police official was ready to give the reason for the crackdown, some opposition leaders said the drive might be aimed at stopping their workers from joining journalists' protests.

The crackdown was going on till 2am in Okara, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Kasur, Jhang, Layyah, Kot Addu and Multan. Those picked up included district and tehsil level officer-bearers of PPP, PML-N and JI.