The PTI claimed on Thursday that party leader Ali Amin Gandapur had been arrested from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan.

The party’s official Twitter account shared a video of Gandapur and said that the PTI leader was arrested “on the orders” of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who “feared a loss in elections”.

In the video shared alongside the tweet, a man can be heard asking Gandapur about the case in which he was apparently being arrested.

“I don’t know myself. They say there are FIRs (first information report) and it is necessary to arrest you,” he replied.

When the man asked who was behind the move, the PTI leader said, “You may know who is behind it. They just tell me that they are higher-ups.”

He said he was surrendering before authorities because “I came to the court for a case. Obviously, I can’t hide from the courts […] When I came here, they closed everything and said they have to arrest [me]. They were moving to enter the bar room, the high court.”

It was not immediately clear which court the PTI leader was referring to.

The PTI leader added that given the scenario, he thought it better to “face them than let such an action take place inside the bar room or high court of my country”.

When asked again about who he thought was behind the move, the PTI leader reiterated that he was being told that “higher-ups” were behind it. He also said raids were being conducted for him even though there was “no case against me”.

Dawn.com has reached out to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief for a comment.

News of Gandapur’s purported arrest had the PTI in an uproar.

PTI chief Imran Khan tweeted: “Today complete law of the jungle prevails in Pakistan. PDM and [its] handlers have a one-point agenda — that is to go after PTI workers and leadership. It was decided pre-emptively to arrest Ali Amin Gandapur despite bail. But they will still be decimated in the elections.”

PTI leader Qasim Khan Suri said his fellow party leader’s alleged arrest from DI Khan “by the fascist government” despite him being granted bail was an “extremely despicable act”.

PTI leader Usman Dar said that JUI-F chief Fazl and the “imported government were on the last legs of their political life and that is why they have resorted to such tactics”.

PTI leader Taimur Khan Jhagra tweeted that the people of Pakistan were with Gandapur. “We are all with you,” he said.

PTI’s Shafqat Mahmood also said that Gandapur had been “arrested [even] though he had bail in all cases registered against him”.

“Violation of law and the Constitution by the state has become the new normal in the current regime. Going beyond the constitutional framework will lead to terrible consequences,” he warned.

“Strongly condemn Ali Amin’s arrest by this fascist government. He must be released as soon as possible. There is law of the jungle being followed here,” said ex-defence minister Pervez Khattak.