600 PTI leaders including Imran Khan barred from leaving country

Former prime minister Imran Khan was among the 600 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and former assembly members whose names have been added to the no-fly list, sources told Geo News Thursday. 

The names of the former ruling party leaders and their chief have been added to the travel curb list for their involvement in the May 9 violence and desecration of martyrs' monuments, said the sources within the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA). 

The names have been added to the FIA's Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) to prevent them from going abroad, added the sources.

Moreover, the former prime minister's wife Bushra Bibi's name has also been added to the list. Apart from that, the list includes Murad Saeed, Maleeka Bokhari, Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Yasmin Rashid and Mian Aslam Iqbal.

The sources further claimed that some of the PTI leaders and office bearers tried leaving the country in the last three days, however, they were stopped at the airports.

In a bid to stop them from leaving the country, their names were sent by the police, the counter-terrorism department (CTD), and intelligence agencies.

Thousands of party workers and leaders were arrested during the crackdown on the PTI since May 9 for the party’s alleged involvement in the riots that claimed at least 8 lives and injured dozens of others.

Several party leaders and lawmakers — including Shireen Mazari, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan among others — have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the Khan-led party since the May 9 vandalism.