Imran Khan charged under terrorism act

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has been charged by the country's police under anti-terrorism laws.

Pakistan's police announced the charges after the cricketer-turned-politician accused authorities of torturing his close aide, who is himself being detained under sedition charges, reports the BBC.

In a public speech on Saturday, Imran Khan condemned Islamabad's police chief and a female judge for the detention and alleged mistreatment of his party colleague.

"You should also get ready as we will take action against you," he said in the speech, referring to the pair directly.

Officials accused Khan of breaching the country's anti-terrorism act for allegedly making threats against the state officials.

Hundreds of the former Pakistani prime minister's supporters gathered outside his home in Islamabad after news of the investigation broke. As Imran Khan's supporters gather outside his house vowing to "take over" if he is arrested, the situation is tense in Pakistan. 

However, police who were present at the scene said they were not there to arrest the former leader, but to maintain law and order.

Imran Khan on Sunday (21 August) levelled a series of allegations against the "neutrals" — a term he uses to allude to the military establishment — saying as per the "information he received from insiders" they were the ones who were allegedly responsible for the ongoing crackdown on his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Addressing a political gathering at Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh,Khan said that with this gathering he had started the journey to achieve "real freedom" for the country and he would not rest until he has achieved his goal, reports The Dawn. 

"On May 25, when the police used violence against us, I was told by insiders that the police were ordered from above, which means that neutrals pressurised them to give PTI workers a thrashing," Imran Khan said and questioned whether the "neutrals were really neutral".

Speaking about the disqualification case against him in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he alleged: "The chief election commission[er] is giving every decision against us … I got information from the inside that he [the CEC] was not doing anything on his own but there was pressure from above."

Since being ousted from power in April, Khan has been a vocal critic of the government and the country's army.

Imran's party wins Karachi by-election

PTI won the by-election of Karachi's NA-245 on Sunday (21 August) and retained its mandate from the constituency in a major boost to the party a week before the local bodies' elections in the city giving setback to the key contestant Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P). 

According to a report on The Dawn, Mahmood B Maulvi of PTI won the by-election by securing 29,475 votes, defeating MQM-P's Moeed Anwar who bagged 13,193 votes.

Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP) Mohammad Ahmed Raza came third with 9,836 votes. Dr Farooq Sattar, the disgruntled leader of MQM-P and founder of MQM restoration committee who was contesting as an independent candidate, also failed to make any impact and managed to secure only 3,479 votes.