Heavy security has been deployed across Rawalpindi as authorities prepared for possible protests following jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's conviction
in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case. Officials on Sunday said more than 1,300 police officers and security personnel were put on duty to maintain law and order amid fears of demonstrations by supporters of Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), according to the news agency PTI. The security deployment included two superintendents of police, seven deputy superintendents, 29 inspectors and station house officers, 92 upper subordinates and 340 constables, The Express Tribune reported. In addition, seven sections of Elite Force commandos, 22 Rapid Emergency and Security Operations personnel and around 400 members of the Anti-Riots Management Wing were mobilised, the report added.
Authorities also cited the prospect of protests by the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, which has announced demonstrations across Punjab against what it has described as the "Black Local Government Act 2025".
Imran Khan's Call From Jail
Khan, 73, and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced on Saturday to 17 years' imprisonment each in the Toshakhana 2 case. The verdict was delivered by a special court set up inside Rawalpindi's high-security Adiala Jail, where Khan has been held since August 2023.
Soon after the ruling, a statement appeared on Khan's account on X in the early hours of Sunday, calling on party leaders to prepare for a protest movement after what he described as a "military-style trial decision".
"I have sent a message to (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister) Sohail Afridi to prepare for the street movement. The entire nation will have to rise for its rights," the post said.
What is the Toshakhana 2 Case?
The Toshakhana 2 case relates to alleged fraud involving state gifts received by Mr Khan and his wife from the Saudi government in 2021.
Toshakhana is a department under Pakistan's cabinet division that stores gifts presented to rulers and government officials by foreign dignitaries. Such gifts can be bought back under prescribed rules.
The case, filed in July 2024, is based on allegations that valuable items, including expensive watches and diamond and gold jewellery sets, were sold without first being deposited, the report said.
Bibi was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court in October 2024, while Khan was granted bail in the same case a month later. Both were indicted in December, but proceedings continued at Adiala Jail, where they were already incarcerated following earlier convictions in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
In its ruling, the accountability court sentenced the couple to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 409 of the Pakistan Penal Code and seven years under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Each was also fined PKR 16.4 million.
Reacting to the verdict, Khan alleged that he and his wife were being "continuously subjected to mental torture by keeping us in solitary confinement".
"There is a ban on our books, TV, and meetings. Every prisoner in jail can watch TV, but even watching TV has been banned for me and Bibi Bushra," he said.
Pakistan Government Reacts
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government said there was "no embargo" on Khan's sons meeting their father if they travelled to the country.
Interior state minister Talal Chaudhry said: "There has been no embargo on Suleman Khan and Kasim Khan to meet their father, Imran Khan, at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi."
Suleman and Kasim Khan, who live in London, are Khan's sons from his first marriage to British television personality Jemima Goldsmith.
Party leaders and family members have previously raised concerns about restrictions on meetings with the former prime minister, saying visits were limited on the grounds that they were being used for political purposes.
