As Pakistan police arrived at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore city to arrest Imran Khan, the former premier posted a video message for his supporters on Twitter, urging them to continue their fight for "haqeeqi azaadi" (true freedom) even if he is put behind bars or assassinated.
"They think that after I am arrested, the nation will fall asleep. You have to prove them wrong," the cricketer-turned-politician said in the video.
"If something happens to me and I am sent to jail or if I am killed, you have to prove that you will struggle without Imran Khan and not accept the slavery of these thieves and of the one person who has been making decisions for the country," Khan added.
Khan's message to his supporters came after armored police vehicles moved around his residence in Lahore city on Tuesday afternoon, leading to clashes between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and police.
TV footage showed police using water cannons to disperse the crowd while PTI supporters responded by pelting stones at cops. As the face-off between the police and Khan's supporters escalated, the police employed tear gas shells to break the logjam.
Latest reports from Pakistan suggest that Islamabad DIG (Operations) Shahzad Bukhari, who was heading the police team that reached Khan's home, was injured in the scuffle.
The police action against the 1992 Cricket World Cup-winning captain comes days after a local court issued an arrest warrant against him following his failure to appear before the court despite being asked to do so on multiple occasions.
The case against Khan began last August when National Assembly speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accused him of swindling more than 50 gift items from the state registry.
Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled that Khan was guilty of illegally selling the items he received from foreign dignitaries during his stint as the country's leader.
The ECP then filed a corruption case against Khan, leading to the framing of charges last month.