Pakistan violence: Former foreign minister and Imran Khan's close aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrested

The police statement comes a day after PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Secretary General Asad Umar were also taken into custody in Islamabad, reports Dawn News.

The PTI also shared a video of Qureshi’s arrest, which took place during the early hours of Thursday, the newspaper reported.

According to reports, PTI claimed the former minister was taken to an undisclosed location following his arrest.

Subsequently, Islamabad police issued a statement which said that Qureshi, Umar, Chaudhry, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Falaknaz Chitrali, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema and Maleeka Bokhari had been arrested so far.

“Arrests had been made for inciting arson and violent protests under a well-thought out plan for threatening peace,” police was quoted as saying by Dawn News.

It added that all arrests were made after fulfilling the legal requirements and warned that further arrests were also expected. It also asked people to “not spread rumours and incitement amongst the public”.

Amid the ongoing violence across the country allegedly performed by PTI supporters, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said he is against the concept of banning any party.

Responding to a query at the presser, the minister said that it was imperative for PTI to maintain its status as a political party and not transform into a group that supports terrorism.

“This would help prevent any need for the party to be banned," he was quoted as saying by Dawn News.