Imran Khan, a well-known cricketer and former prime minister of Pakistan, was detained after testifying in court on corruption-related accusations.
The 72-year-old Khan was detained on Tuesday on the grounds of the court by National Accountability Bureau officials, according to Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
In April of last year, Khan was dismissed in a no-confidence vote.
He has claimed his ousting was illegal and part of a Western conspiracy and has since campaigned against the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, demanding early elections.
Chaudhry said Khan was dragged out of the court and into a police vehicle. He said the former premier is now in the custody of the security forces. He denounced the arrest as ‘an abduction.’
Pakistan’s independent GEO TV broadcast images of Khan being pulled by security forces towards an armored vehicle, which took him away.
Khan’s party immediately complained to the Islamabad High Court, which requested a police report explaining the charges for Khan’s arrest.
Officials from the anti-corruption body said that Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau had issued arrest warrants for Khan last week in a separate graft case, for which he had not obtained bail- something that would protect him from arrest under the country’s laws.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Khan will be brought to appear before an anti-graft tribunal later on Tuesday.
Khan’s graft case is one of over 100 cases registered against him since he was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote in April last year. He served four of his five-year term.
In most of the cases, Khan faces being barred from holding public office if convicted, with a national election scheduled for November.
Khan’s party previously vowed to ramp up protests upon his arrest, which analysts say would add to the struggles of a government already hobbled by an economic crisis that has left the nuclear-armed country on the brink of default.
Last year, Khan was injured during an apparant assassination attempt after a gunman opened fire on him during a rally.
In March, police stormed the former PM’s home and arrested 30 people after riots broke out following Khan’s failure to appear at a court hearing.