Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued a 72-hour deadline in which to seize the "arsonists" behind the violence that engulfed the country after former premier Imran Khan was arrested earlier this week.
Blaming the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI - Pakistan Movement for Freedom) party chief and his supporters for vandalism and violent attacks on the security forces, army establishments, and public property, Sharif stated that "it is time to do or die - now or never".
Sharif urged law enforcement agencies to put behind bars all those who were involved in the recent arson in Pakistan.
"The real culprits who showed this kind of enmity against the motherland should be arrested and produced in anti-terrorism courts under the relevant laws. These creatures should be arrested immediately, without fear or favor," he added.
The statement from Pakistan's prime minister came after he visited on Saturday the corps commander's home and the Punjab Safe Cities Authority, both of which were ransacked by the mob that went on the rampage after the cricketer-turned-politician was arrested.
Sharif's Ultimatum to Law Enforcement Agencies
Sharif tweeted that he has given "law enforcement apparatus a target of 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage & damaging public and private properties".
The Pakistan premier also said that his government was using all kinds of intelligence, including technological aid to "chase down" the culprits behind the violence.
"Bringing these people to justice is a test case for the government. Their cases will be tried by the anti-terrorism courts," Sharif wrote on the microblogging platform.
Sharif's ultimatum to law enforcement agencies regarding the arrest of the rioters comes hours after Khan lambasted his government and the Pakistan Army for "abducting" him.
The 1992 Cricket World Cup-winning captain was released from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody on Friday after the Pakistan Supreme Court declared his arrest "invalid and unlawful".
As a consequence, in his first public address, the ousted prime minister hit out at the Pakistan Army for blaming him for the violence that rocked the South Asian nation after he was picked up by police.
Khan Blasts Pakistan Army
Slamming Major-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry - director-general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - for describing him as a hypocrite, Khan added that Chaudhry should be "ashamed" for making such a statement.
The ISPR is the media wing of the Pakistan Army.
"Listen to me Mr DG ISPR... you were not even born when I was representing my country in the world and earning a good name for it. You should be ashamed of yourself for calling me a hypocrite and anti-Army," Khan said in an address to the public from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore during the weekend.
Khan also derided the powerful Army by advising them to form a political party to run the country.
"You have jumped into politics. Why don't you form your own party? Who has given you the right to make such frivolous allegations? Have some shame for saying that no one else harmed the army to the extent that I did, and that you will crush us," Khan concluded.