Pakistani police have charged the country’s imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan, with attempted murder, over the death of a policeman during violent protests last weekend by his supporters, officials said on Tuesday.

Khan, who has been behind bars since 2023, is accused of inciting people to violence, they said.

Police say that Khan, who had urged his followers to rally on his behalf and demand his release from prison, had allegedly incited his supporters, leading to the killing of officer Abdul Hameed.

According to police official Murtaza Qamar, Hameed was critically injured in clashes between Khan’s supporters and police in Islamabad and died in hospital.

Over the weekend, the country’s capital, Islamabad, was in complete lockdown, with mobile phone service suspended and key roads into the city blocked with shipping containers to try to thwart the rally by tens of thousands of Khan’s supporters.

Two people surrounded by tear gas
Police fire tear gas to disperse supporters of Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, during a protest in Islamabad on Saturday (W.K. Yousafzai/AP)

Police said dozens of officers were also injured when the protesters threw stones at them.

Registering an attempted murder charge against Khan, who since being ousted after a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022 has been Pakistan’s top opposition leader, indicates the authorities are seeking to entangle him in a multitude of legal cases, likely making it even more difficult for his legal team to fight for his release.

Khan has so far been embroiled in more than 150 cases and has been sentenced in several, including to three years, 10 years, 14 years and seven years, to be served concurrently under Pakistani law.

Khan’s convictions were later overturned in appeals but he cannot be freed because of other, pending cases against him.

He has maintained his innocence and has said that the cases are an attempt to sideline him politically by keeping him out of the public arena.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, has also been demanding his release.

Along with Khan, a top elected official in the northwest, Ali Amin Gundapur, and hundreds of Khan’s supporters, were charged on Tuesday with defying a ban on public rallies, attacking security forces and disrupting normal life over the weekend to pressure authorities to free Khan.