What happened
Police in Islamabad stopped a caravan led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi from reaching Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, preventing him and the sisters of imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan from meeting the former prime minister, Dawn reported.
The delegation, which included members of Afridi’s provincial cabinet and national and provincial lawmakers, was halted at Chungi No. 26, the junction of the Srinagar Highway and G.T. Road, after it left the M-1 motorway. Police cited Section 144, which restricts public gatherings. The group staged a sit-in at the junction, which the party said it ended early on Wednesday after what it described as a police crackdown.
Shafi Jan, special assistant to the KP chief minister on information and public relations, said on the social media platform X that Chungi No. 26 had been reopened after “the worst violence, bullets and baton-charge”. Afridi and Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan were expected to address a press conference at KP House later on Wednesday.
Separately, PTI leaders Salman Akram Raja and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, along with Bushra Bibi’s daughters, reached Adiala jail but were not allowed to meet Imran Khan. The cut-off time for visits that day was 4pm. Media reports said a medical team also reached the jail to conduct a medical check-up of the PTI founder.
The demand
Afridi said stopping the chief executive and the entire cabinet of a province on their way to a peaceful meeting amounted to discrimination against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the party had no illegal or unconstitutional demands and described access to treatment as a fundamental human right, reiterating the demand that Imran Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad and treated under the supervision of his personal doctors and family members.
In a statement on X, Afridi said the government’s actions were “not only an insult to the chief executive but also to the 46 million people of KP”. He added that any harm caused to Imran Khan by negligence or the deliberate denial of medical care would be the responsibility of the federal government, the Punjab police and the Adiala jail administration.
Aleema Khan said the party had exhausted every democratic and legal avenue and was left with no choice but to exercise its constitutional right to peaceful assembly, calling the blocking of an elected chief minister and his cabinet “an attack on democracy itself”.
Why it matters
The confrontation keeps the treatment of the imprisoned former prime minister at the centre of opposition strategy. It followed a protest on the National Assembly floor a day earlier by opposition lawmakers who demanded proper medical care for Imran Khan and threatened to boycott the budget session. Imran Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 and is serving a 14-year sentence at Adiala jail in the £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. The Islamabad High Court has allowed him twice-weekly meetings with family, lawyers and associates, but the PTI says access has been restricted for months.
What remains uncertain
It was not clear whether the government would allow a hospital transfer or a meeting with his personal doctors. The government has said Imran Khan is receiving care, while his party disputes that account.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Quotations are as carried by the cited outlets. Sources reviewed on 2026-05-19.
- Dawn — "PTI ends Islamabad sit-in staged after KP CM, Imran's sisters stopped from meeting ex-premier at Adiala jail"19 May 2026 · Reports the blocked caravan, the sit-in at Chungi No. 26, the denial of access to other PTI leaders, the medical team and the party's demands.
- Pakistan Today — "KP chief minister, Imran Khan's sisters stopped from reaching Adiala Jail"19 May 2026 · Reports the same incident and the background of Imran Khan's imprisonment and the Islamabad High Court's visiting order.
