Security increased in Pakistan ahead of protest by Imran Khan's party

Pakistan's authorities sealed off the capital Islamabad on Friday to foil a planned protest by the Tehreek-i-Insaf of former premier Imran Khan to show solidarity with the judiciary and increase pressure to release the former prime minister from the jail.

The call for protest was given by a 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician who has been incarcerated at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for more than a year.

He asked his followers to converge at the iconic D-Chowk of the capital to register a protest. It is the same venue where Khan held a sit-in for 126 days in 2014 against alleged rigging in the elections.

The government responded by imposing Section 144 in the city to outlaw all sorts of protests and gatherings and blocked all major entry points to the capital by putting shipping containers on the roads.

Pillion riding was also banned for two days and the Metro bus service between Islamabad and Rawalpindi was suspended.

Similar measures were also taken to stop protestors from