PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Thursday said he was “released” after being briefly detained, with his party claiming he was held by Islamabad police.

In a post on X at 4:39pm, the PTI claimed that Raja, Latasob Satti and “others were unlawfully abducted” when they were on their way to Kotli Sattian to attend a PTI worker’s funeral. A post on Latasob’s Facebook account said his son Ikhlaq Ahmad Satti was also held.

The PTI said they were then transferred to Nilore police station in Islamabad, alleging that “abductions and arrests were ongoing to prevent people from attending the funeral”.

In a subsequent post at 5:32pm, Raja said he, Latasob, Ikhlaq and their “several friends were released after being kept in detention for four hours”.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said party leader Shaukat Basra informed him that Raja has been “detained at police station by the police for the last two hours”.

“I strongly condemned this and called upon his immediate release. For the last few days, about 700 workers have been arrested,” he claimed, adding that arrest warrants have also been issued against MNAs and MPAs.

“This is all illegal. This must end now,” he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Raja had addressed a press conference alongside PTI leader Taimur Saleem Jhagra.

The PTI has been holding party activities to mobilise supporters for the PTI’s nationwide protest scheduled for September 27, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi touring Punjab this week.

On its part, the Punjab government has imposed a ban on gatherings across the province from September 13 to 17.

District authorities had also issued preventive detention orders against dozens of PTI workers under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order, including 31 in one Punjab notification and a further 14 in Toba Tek Singh.

The administrations of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had already begun preparations to counter the PTI’s announced march to the capital, including a request for the detention of activists, arranging containers, seeking additional personnel and procuring anti-riot gear.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited various checkpoints in Attock connecting Punjab to KP to review security arrangements.

More to follow