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Former prime minister Imran Khan has asked the chief justice of Pakistan to allow him to appear for court proceedings virtually to reduce the risk of any threat to his life.
Key points:
- Mr Khan did not back up his claims and said the government was behind the plot to kill him to avoid a possible defeat in the next parliamentary elections
- Police in Pakistan have arrested dozens of supporters and aides of Mr Khan in raids in two cities
- Some of Mr Khan's supporters were killed in a rocket attack on Monday
"My life is in danger, why must I appear in court," Mr Khan said, in a live video stream, as his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party prepared for a rally in Lahore.
He then asked to appear by video conference for court proceedings, vowing: "I will appear for all cases".
Supporters of Mr Khan's party, clashed with police in the city of Lahore last week as they attempted to arrest him at his home, and later with police in Islamabad as he arrived to appear before a court on Saturday.
On Monday, Mr Khan claimed that court appearance was a potential plot to have him killed.
"I will expose how I almost walked into a death trap & the plot to kill me in the Judicial Complex," he tweeted.
He did not back up his claim and said the government was behind the plot to kill him to avoid a possible defeat in the next parliamentary elections, which are due later this year.
Mr Khan was shot in the leg in November last year.
Police crackdown on supporters
A rocket hit a vehicle carrying Khan supporters in the country's north-west, killing 10 people.
The rocket killed Atif Munsif, a local leader from Khan's party, and nine others, officials said.
The attack happened in Abbottabad, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Asghar Khan, a local police chief unrelated to the former prime minister. He said it was unclear who was behind the attack.
Mr Khan said Mr Munsif's political rivals were behind previous gun attacks on elders from his family. He said police were investigating. The Khan supporters were apparently returning to Abbottabad from Islamabad.
The incident came as Pakistani police on Monday arrested scores more supporters of Mr Khan for attacking officers over the weekend outside an Islamabad court where the ousted premier was to appear on graft charges.
The arrests were the latest amid legal cases facing Mr Khan, now opposition leader, since his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last April.
Monday's arrests bring the total number of Mr Khan's followers detained in Islamabad to 198 since Saturday, when 59 were arrested in the Pakistani capital.
Clashes between Mr Khan's supporters and the security forces have brought a new round of political chaos to Pakistan, which is in the midst of a crippling economic crisis.
Police in both Lahore and Islamabad confirmed the raids and the arrest of PTI workers they said were involved in clashes with police and arson.
"Police are raiding the houses because seven cases on various charges, including terrorism, have been registered against the leaders and workers," Lahore police chief Bilal Kamiana told Reuters referring to the clashes with police.
More raids were being carried out, the spokesman said.
Reuters/AP