By NNN-PTI
Islamabad : Clashes erupted between police and supporters of Nawaz Sharif in and around the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as the government intensified its crackdown on Opposition following the return of the deposed former prime minister.
Two policemen and a worker of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League were injured in an exchange of fire between police and the supporters of the leader at Attock bridge in the outskirts of Rawapindi.
Hundreds of Sharif’s supporters had gathered at the bridge to enter the twin cities to greet their leader.
Police fired tear gas shells and used batons to disperse over 200 protesters who tried to move towards the fortified airport here, defying a government ban.
Former Pakistan President Rafiq Tarar and central spokesman of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) Ahsan Iqbal were among top opposition leaders arrested on Monday as they lead a procession to the Islamabad airport to welcome Sharif, witnesses said.
Iqbal was severely beaten up by police which clashed with a few hundred opposition activists, they said.
PML-N Chairman Raza Zafarul Haq, President Javed Hashmi and Ahsan Iqbal were among those detained last night.
“This government is anti-Islam, anti-Muslims and anti-Pakistan,” Rafiq Tarar said minutes before he was taken away by in a police vehicle.