Reporting snapshot · 20 September 2026. Lahore's deputy commissioner ordered the arrest and 30-day preventive detention of Aleema Khan, sister of jailed former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, under Section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The order also named her driver. PTI and the opposition alliance condemned the detention as a pre-march crackdown; the family said they had no contact with her after she left home. The account below reflects the order as reported by Dawn and The Express Tribune, PTI and family statements, and Reuters.
What happened
Lahore’s deputy commissioner ordered the arrest and 30-day detention of Aleema Khan, sister of jailed former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, on Sunday, 20 September 2026, under Section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960.
The detention order, issued by Deputy Commissioner Capt (retd) Muhammad Ali Ijaz on 20 September, also named her driver, Muhammad Ameer, directing that both be detained for 30 days from the date of their arrest at Central Jail, Kot Lakhpat, Lahore. The order, a copy of which Dawn said it had, was issued under powers conferred through a 2017 Punjab Home Department notification and Section 3(1) of the Punjab MPO Ordinance. It states that the detainees may make a representation to the provincial government against their detention.
Reuters reported that police arrested Aleema Khan at her house in Lahore, citing a PTI Punjab spokesman, ahead of the party’s planned protest march on the capital on 27 September. The Express Tribune reported that PTI Central Punjab said she had been shifted to an undisclosed location.
What the detention order says
According to reports of the order by Dawn and The Express Tribune, the Lahore Capital City Police Officer forwarded a request based on reports submitted by the SP Civil Lines Division and the in-charge of the district intelligence branch. The police and intelligence reports alleged that Aleema Khan and Ameer had been involved in the protests and road blockades of 9 May 2023, when PTI supporters took to the streets after Imran Khan’s arrest, and had motivated workers to damage public and government property.
The reports further alleged that the two were again mobilising workers through social media and public meetings, potentially creating a law and order situation, and that they had raised what the order described as “objectionable slogans” against the government and institutions in an attempt to provoke members of the public. Multiple cases, including FIR No. 96/23 registered at Race Course police station, were cited in support of the request. The authorities described the two as “potential dangers to public peace and tranquility” and recommended their detention for 30 days to maintain law and order in Lahore.
The matter was placed before the District Intelligence Committee at a meeting on 20 September chaired by the Lahore deputy commissioner, which, according to The Express Tribune, endorsed the police evidence before unanimously recommending the detention. The deputy commissioner said he was satisfied that the presence of the two individuals at any public place would pose a “grave threat to public safety” and was likely to cause a breach of public peace and order.
The MPO is a preventive-detention law. Dawn noted that it allows the authorities to order detention and restricts judicial review of such orders, while preserving the right to make a representation to the provincial government.
The family’s account
Family sources told The Express Tribune that Aleema Khan was travelling towards Gymkhana Club when police intercepted her vehicle and took her into custody along with her driver and the car. They said she had left her residence around 1:15pm to 1:20pm after offering Zuhr prayers, and was subsequently taken towards Lytton Road, where her vehicle was parked at the police station. The sources noted that the area where she was allegedly intercepted did not fall under the jurisdiction of Lytton Road Police Station.
Aleema Khan’s son, Shahrez Khan, said his mother had been “abducted” after leaving home on Sunday morning and that the family had had no contact with her. In a post on X, he said she was on bail in all cases against her in Lahore and demanded that the government immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure her safe return. His account could not be independently verified.
The PTI, for its part, said in a post on X that Aleema had been “abducted” in Lahore from outside her home by the authorities. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram separately condemned the detention, describing it as punishing a sister for speaking for her brother and demanding that she be presented in court immediately.
The political context
The detention came one week before the PTI’s announced 27 September long march to Islamabad to demand Imran Khan’s release. Imran Khan, 73, has been in jail since August 2023 and is serving prison terms in the Toshakhana-II and £190m corruption cases, with pending anti-terrorism trials linked to the May 2023 protests. The family and party say the cases are politically motivated; the authorities deny this.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan condemned the arrest of Aleema, saying it was the first step towards worsening the situation. “Our march will be peaceful and political. We do not want any kind of confrontation or violence,” he said, adding that the party’s objective was to pursue a peaceful struggle for constitutional and political demands. He said arresting Aleema or detaining her under the MPO amounted to fuelling tensions and called on the government to immediately stop such measures and release her.
The Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ain Pakistan (TTAP) opposition alliance also strongly condemned the detention, calling it an escalation of what it described as an ongoing crackdown on political workers and their families. The alliance said Aleema had been detained under the 3-MPO despite there being no charge against her, and that the action had created an atmosphere of fear among political workers and their families. “The relentless crackdown on political workers in Punjab has now reached families. Aleema Khan saheba’s detention under 3-MPO, with no charge and days before September 27, is repression at its peak,” TTAP provincial leader Shayyan Bashir said. The alliance demanded her immediate release.
The arrests come against the backdrop of a week of converging protest calls on the capital. Jamaat-e-Islami began its own “super long march” from Karachi to Islamabad on the same day over the petroleum levy, and the government and opposition have been in contact over the September 27 protest, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi seeking to avert the march. An Islamabad High Court verdict issued on 18 September bars parties and leaders from occupying the capital’s roads and public places, and the government has said it will enforce the judgment.
What is still uncertain
Several facts remain contested. There was no immediate official confirmation from the Punjab government or police of the detention beyond the deputy commissioner’s order as reported; PTI said she was “abducted” while the family said she was intercepted on the way to a gym. The identity and justification behind the MPO order rest on police and intelligence reports that have not been published in full. Whether Aleema Khan will be produced in court, file a representation to the provincial government, or be released before the 27 September march, and whether the detention changes PTI’s protest plans, all remain open questions when this article was prepared.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 20 September 2026. The detention order was not published in full by any outlet; the details reflect the order as reported by Dawn and The Express Tribune.
- Dawn — PTI says Aleema detained by authorities as Lahore DC orders arrest under MPO20 September 2026 · The Sept 20 DC order, the 30-day term, Kot Lakhpat jail, the right of representation, and the May 9 roadblock references.
- The Express Tribune — Lahore administration orders 30-day detention of Aleema Khan under MPO20 September 2026 · The DC order's stated grounds, FIR 96/23, the District Intelligence Committee recommendation, family sources, PTI and TTAP reactions, and Shahrez Khan's statement.
- Reuters — Police arrest Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan's sister in Lahore ahead of party's planned march20 September 2026 · Wire confirmation of the arrest at her Lahore house ahead of the September 27 march, citing a PTI Punjab spokesman.
