LONDON: As authorities continue to clamp down on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after the May 9 riots and arson incidents, three key party leaders — former federal minister Murad Saeed, former Punjab provincial minister Aslam Iqbal and Imran Khan’s nephew Hassan Niazi — have fled Pakistan and reached London.
Credible sources told We News that the three key PTI leaders reached London after escaping Pakistan to Afghanistan and then to Iran.
According to the sources, the three top PTI leaders reached London safely after taking the long but arduous journey.
According to the sources, PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari, who had reached London earlier, was attempting to reach the British parliament to get support for his beleaguered leader Imran Khan back home.
Earlier, former prime minister Imran Khan appealed to his supporters and workers to go into hiding to escape arrests.
Several party leaders including Fawad Chaudhry, Amir Kiyani, Shireen Mazari and Asad Umar have announced to quit the PTI after the authorities put them behind bars following the rioting that occurred across Pakistan on May 9 over the brief, but tumultuous arrest of Imran Khan, who was released on bail later on the order of the Islamabad High Court.
Imran Khan, who on Wednesday offered a vague offer for talks with the authorities concerned, has alleged that his party leaders were being beaten and threatened in jails to quit the PTI. He also alleges that a one-sided narrative was being propagated against him and his party in the mainstream media.
