Imran Khan's three sisters detained 30 days under MPO before PTI's 27 September march

All three sisters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan have been detained for 30 days under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960, ahead of a PTI march on Islamabad called for 27 September.

Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi were taken into custody on 20 September and are being held at Kot Lakhpat Central Jail in Lahore. The deputy commissioner's order says they were mobilising workers through social media and public meetings in a way likely to create a law and order situation.

What the MPO allows

The MPO Ordinance lets a district administration order preventive detention for up to 30 days with limited judicial review, before any charge is proven in court. PTI has called the detentions a blatant abuse of authority and a violation of constitutional rights, and family members say some relatives were moved to undisclosed locations without a stated reason.

The march, and the state's answer

PTI has announced a countrywide protest and a march on Islamabad on 27 September, demanding Imran Khan's release and what it calls constitutional supremacy. The government has moved to block it. The Islamabad High Court has ruled that political parties have no lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in the capital.

Punjab and Sindh have begun sending police contingents to Islamabad, and the capital is bracing for closures of the kind seen during previous PTI marches, when containers sealed the main routes and mobile data was cut in parts of the city.

Adiala meeting

With the sisters detained, other family members are due to reach Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for a Tuesday meeting with the former prime minister, PTI's lawyers said. Court-ordered family and lawyer meetings at Adiala have repeatedly been delayed or denied over the past year, and each blocked visit has become its own flashpoint.

For readers, the immediate practical effect is on the roads. If the 27 September march goes ahead, expect route closures around Islamabad and the GT Road, and check for any mobile-data suspension before you travel.