The water cannon breaks Aleema Khan’s sit-in in Adiala Jail

Police used a water cannon early Wednesday to disperse a sit-in led by Aleema Khan outside the Adiala jail after authorities denied permission for a meeting with jailed former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan.

Aleema Khan, along with her sisters Noreen Khan and Dr. Uzma Khan started the protest at 2 pm on Tuesday in the company of party workers and former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan. The sit-in continued for almost 12 hours until police launched an operation around 2.10am, deploying high pressure cold water spray to clear the road.

Police confirmed that several PTI workers were detained during the operation. The force of the water drove protesters from the main road to an adjacent vacant lot, while traffic routes around the prison were reopened after the area was cleared.

PTI MNA Shahid Khattak suffered a broken leg after slipping into a drain during the commotion. He was taken to a hospital where doctors applied a plaster and recommended a month of bed rest.

Read: Negotiations underway as PTI sit-in continues outside Adiala jail

Aleema Khan said the group would return next Tuesday to continue their protest. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan criticized the police action, saying the use of high-pressure and freezing cold water in the pre-dawn hours posed a safety hazard to everyone, especially women and elderly participants.

Protesters continued to shout slogans throughout the operation and called for permission to meet the former PTI chief. The authorities have not commented on whether such access will be granted.

The standoff played out against a wider backdrop of increasingly restricted access to PTI founder Imran Khan, who has been in Adiala jail since his conviction in several cases. Although Tuesdays are formally designated for family and legal meetings, PTI leaders say access has been inconsistent for weeks, with prison authorities citing “security concerns” and administrative instructions.

Tensions increased when Imran’s sisters were informed shortly before the end of visiting hours that no meeting would take place. Officials, according to party members present at the scene, also declined to confirm whether a visit would be allowed later this week, causing widespread frustration in the party.

The refusal triggered an immediate sit-in outside the jail that quickly grew as senior PTI leadership – including the party chairman, general secretary and several MNAs – arrived at the scene.

The chants continued into the night as the prison authorities placed the surrounding area under almost total lockdown. Roads remained blocked for several kilometers, commercial activity was halted and police quietly moved vehicles belonging to PTI workers, further escalating tensions.

Read more: PTI says Imran ‘not a security threat’

Aleema Khan repeatedly stressed that the protest remained peaceful and said the party had no confrontation with the police.

However, she strongly criticized the ongoing ban on meetings, calling it psychological pressure on the former prime minister and questioned the state’s justification for treating him as a “national security threat”. She also rejected claims of political discussions within previous meetings, saying family conversations were being mischaracterized to justify further restrictions.

Late in the evening, PTI leaders warned that prolonged denial of entry would only widen political fissures and deepen public unrest – setting the stage for the early morning police operation that followed.