PESHAWAR: PTI Chairman Imran Khan refuted rumors of his party reaching an agreement with the establishment on Friday, saying he called off the “Azadi March” to avert violence.

In an unexpected move on Thursday morning, Khan issued the government a six-day deadline to declare the election date, threatening to return with three million people after panic engulfed the nation and the army was called in to defend government facilities in Islamabad’s Red Zone.

A day after the violent long march came to an end, Khan told a news conference accompanied by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and PTI leader Atif Khan that he saw mounting resentment among the populace after the police crackdown on party leaders throughout major cities.

“I saw people becoming angrier at the police after what they did to halt the march.” keeping this in mind, if we had marched as planned, the nation would have descended into chaos and disorder.”

The PTI chairman condemned the government for the “brutal” crackdown on protestors, alleging that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah used police personnel of his choosing to target PTI members.