Why has Imran Khan been arrested and what happens next?

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday as he appeared before a court in the country’s capital, Islamabad, to face charges in multiple corruption cases.

It is clear that his arrest was linked to allegations that he, his wife and other associates had made a financial settlement between his ruling government and a property magnate that caused a loss of £190bn to the Treasury.

Security officers dragged Khan outside and shoved him into an armored car before taking him away, a dramatic video showed, sparking outrage from his supporters across the country.

His arrest follows months of political crisis and comes hours after the powerful military rebuked the former international cricketer for alleging a senior officer was involved in a plot to kill him, which saw an assassination attempt last year.

More than 100 cases – including corruption and terrorism – have been registered against Khan since he was removed from power in April last year. In most cases, Khan risks being barred from holding public office if convicted.

Home Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters that Khan had been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case after failing to appear “despite warnings”.

He said the allegations against Khan were that he and his wife received land worth up to 7 billion rupees (£19.5 billion) from a land developer accused of money laundering by British authorities.

He added that British authorities had returned £190 million to Pakistan in connection with money laundering, which Khan then returned to the land developer instead of keeping it in the national treasury.

Sanaullah said Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi subsequently received the land, as well as 5 billion rupees from Bahria Town (an Islamabad-based property company) for “providing protection” to the property company.

The couple, along with their close associates Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan, were involved in the Al-Qadir University Project Trust, which is currently building Al-Qadir University in Sohawa, Pakistan, near Islamabad.

According to reports in the country, the trust was formed by Khan, Bushra Bibi, Bukhari and Awan with the intention of importing quality education to the region.

It is understood that the funds and land were given to the couple through the Al-Qadir Trust, which had only two trustees: Khan and his wife.

Khan had denied wrongdoing.

The NAB issued Khan’s arrest warrant on May 1, according to a Reuters news agency warrant, which read: “Khan is charged with committing corruption and corrupt practices.”

Khan will be brought before an anti-graft court on Wednesday, GEO TV said.

However, Khan’s arrest has sparked furious protests across the country.

Khan’s Pakistani party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called on supporters to ‘lock down Pakistan’. ‘It is your time, people of Pakistan. Khan has always stood for you, now it’s time to stand up for him,” the PTI wrote on Twitter.

As news of the arrest spread, about 4,000 Khan supporters stormed the top regional commander’s official residence in Lahore, smashing windows and doors, damaging furniture and staging a sit-in as troops retreated there to avoid violence . The protesters also burned police vehicles and blocked major roads.

Protesters also smashed the main gate of the army headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where troops were restrained. Hundreds of protesters chanted pro-Khan slogans as they marched toward the sprawling building.

In the port city of Karachi, police brandished batons and fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Khan supporters gathered on a major road.

Khan, 70, a cricket hero turned politician, has shown no signs of slowing down since he was ousted, even after he was injured in an attack on his convoy in November when he led a protest march to Islamabad calling for an early general election .

His arrest comes as ordinary Pakistanis are reeling from the worst economic crisis in decades, with record high inflation and anemic growth.

A rescue package from the International Monetary Fund has been delayed for months, even though foreign exchange reserves are barely enough to cover a month’s worth of imports.

Earlier attempts to arrest Khan from his home in Lahore resulted in violent clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.

The PTI said it had called an emergency meeting of senior leaders to discuss their response to the arrest.

With a national election scheduled for November, Khan has claimed the series of lawsuits against him, including terrorism charges, are a plot by Sharif’s government to discredit the former cricket star turned Islamist politician.

Khan served four of his five-year term before being impeached.

Khan is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was arrested and hanged in 1979.

The brother of the current Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was also Prime Minister, was arrested on several occasions over corruption charges.

In March, police stormed Khan’s residence in Lahore in an attempt to arrest him on a court order in another case. Dozens of people, including police officers, were injured in the ensuing clashes. Khan was not arrested at the time and was later granted bail in the case.

Khan came to power in 2018 after winning parliamentary elections. His initially good relations with the country’s military gradually soured.

The military has directly ruled Pakistan for more than half of the 75 years since the country gained independence from British colonial rule and wields considerable power over civilian governments.