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Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was taken to the District Jail Attock on Saturday evening after his arrest from Zaman Park Lahore following his conviction in the Toshakhana case by a trial court in Islamabad.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was taken to the jail by road amid strict security. All roads leading to the jail were cordoned off by heavily-guarded personnel of law-enforcement agencies. As soon as the directive to Attock police was received, heavy reinforcement of police and Elite Force was made around the jail.
Policemen stand guard at the Attock prison post where Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan is being held for three years in Attock on August 6, 2023 — AFP Photo
A jail official on condition of anonymity told Dawn that a VVIP cell had been prepared in the jail for Imran Khan. The cell has no air-conditioning facility but has a fan, bed and a washroom inside.
It may be mentioned that Imran Khan is the first former prime minister who has been locked up in the Attock jail.
The Attock jail is located in the heart of the city along the Rawalpindi-Peshawar railway track. It was constructed by the British rulers on 67 acres in 1905-06.
The British rulers used the prison to detain people mostly involved in mutiny. It is now considered a high security prison of the country where hardened under-trial prisoners are usually kept.
Former chief minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif was kept in the Attock jail in 1999 after he was sentenced by an accountability court in Attock Fort in the famous MI-8 helicopter kickback case.
PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s son Hussain Nawaz, former chief minister KP Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, ex-minister for communications Azam Khan and MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar also remained imprisoned in the jail.
Earlier this year, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi was kept in the same jail.
