Frantic escape by party leaders during a security crackdown could hurt the PTI. But the government faces questions too.

PTI also claimed that eight of its workers have allegedly been killed, though police claimed that six people, including four paramilitary forces, have died in the protest.

The party of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan suspended street protests seeking his release, it said on Wednesday, following media reports of hundreds of arrests by security forces in a sweeping midnight raid in the capital.