Sadaqat Abbasi says Imran Khan was mastermind of May 9 riots

Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, a former MNA of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is the latest among those who went missing for weeks and then came up with allegations against former prime minister Imran Khan. 

Geo News on Monday cited Abbasi as saying that Imran Khan was the mastermind of the May 9 riots, when PTI leaders and supporters allegedly attacked public and private properties to register their protest against Khan's arrest by paramilitary troops on the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

According to Geo News, Abbasi said that a party meeting was convened on May 7 on former First Lady Bushra Bibi's advice and targets were set at that meeting. He said it was decided at the May 7 meeting that the party must react with full force if Imran Khan is arrested. He said that Khan wanted a powerful reaction to his arrest. 

He said that PTI's second tier leadership asked the party's officials and supporters to gather at Liaquat Bagh after Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9. He said that PTI workers first went to the Metro Bus Station and the police fired teargas at them. He said it was PTI's narrative that its fight was against the establishment.