Imran Khan’s Family Demands Proof Of Life Amid Death Rumours In Adiala Jail

Rumours about the condition of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan intensified this week after reports circulated claiming he had been killed while in custody. The Afghan media report went viral, prompting renewed concerns from Khan’s family and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.

Khan’s son, Kasim Khan, has demanded proof of life and called for his father’s release. In a post on X, he said it has been 845 days since his father was jailed and added that the former PM has spent the past one and a half months in a so-called “death cell” with no contact with family members, reported NDTV.

According to NDTV, the Adiala Jail administration, however, dismissed the reports, stating on Thursday that Imran Khan is in “completely good health” and that PTI leadership had been briefed about his condition. Authorities said all necessary care was being provided to the former PM.

Sajjad Burki, Secretary of PTI’s Organization of International Chapters (OIC), warned that restrictions on access to Khan could worsen the situation, and urged overseas Pakistanis to gather at embassies and consulates worldwide to demand his release.

Tensions escalated outside Adiala Jail on Thursday when Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was stopped while attempting to meet Khan. Afridi, along with dozens of PTI supporters, staged a sit-in that lasted around 16 hours in protest. Speaking to journalists, Afridi said, “We spent the night here with the workers, this was only one night. If we have to spend our whole lives here for the PTI founder, we will do so. We have not yet been told anything about his condition”, NDTV reported.

Imran Khan’s sister, Noreen Niazi, told ANI that she and her siblings had not been allowed to meet the former PM for more than four weeks. She said authorities were deliberately withholding information and criticised the police for targeting PTI supporters, including women, children, and the elderly, without fear of consequences.

According to ANI, “They are not telling us anything, nor are they letting anybody meet him. His party’s people went there because they had a meeting scheduled, but they were not allowed inside. We have not been allowed to meet him for the last four weeks. We got to know that news was circulating in India that he had been killed,” Niazi said.

She recalled that Khan had been placed in isolation for nearly three weeks last year, with electricity cut off during the summer and without access to books, in violation of the prison manual that allows isolation for a maximum of four days. Niazi said he is currently facing similar conditions.

Niazi also expressed concern for other prisoners in Pakistan, saying that the authorities’ treatment of Khan reflected broader oppression of poor and innocent individuals in the country. She warned that public resistance could grow in response to such treatment, reported NDTV.

The situation has drawn attention both inside and outside Pakistan, with PTI leaders and family members pressing for transparency regarding Imran Khan’s health and the conditions of his imprisonment.

(With inputs from NDTV and ANI)