After protests against Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan erupted in Saudi Arabia, 150 others were arrested.

In connection with the hounding of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation at Masjid-e-Nabwi in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan's Punjab police have arrested Imran Khan and 150 others, including some members of his former cabinet, sources claimed.

As soon as Sharif and other members of his group arrived at the Prophet's Mosque in Madina last Thursday, video recordings circulating on social media showed some pilgrims — likely Khan supporters — chanting 'chor' (thief) and 'gaddar' (traitor).

The pilgrims from Pakistan also used derogatory comments toward the members of the party. Five Pakistanis allegedly participated in the sloganeering have been arrested by Madina police.

Officials said Khan, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and 150 others, including former federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Sheikh Rasheed, former adviser to the prime minister Shahbaz Gul, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Soori, and Khan's close aides in London, Anil Musarrat and Sahibzada Jehangir, were arrested on Saturday night in Punjab.

On the complaint of local citizen Naeem Bhatti, the case was registered in a police station in Faisalabad, around 180 kilometres from Lahore, on charges of desecration of the Prophet's mosque in Madina, hooliganism, and hurting Muslim sensibilities, they claimed.

The FIR was filed under various provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code, including 295 A (deliberate and intentional acts intended to offend the sentiments of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).

According to the FIR, around 100 supporters of Khan were dispatched from Pakistan and the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia to carry out the task of assassinating Sharif and his entourage at Madina's Masjid-e-Nabwi. According to the report, Khan and other PTI nominated leaders have given instructions to party workers in this respect.

Meanwhile, Faisalabad police stated they would take legal action against those identified in the FIR.

Khan distanced himself from the pilgrims who harassed and yelled slogans against Sharif in a TV broadcast on Saturday, saying he could "not possibly conceive asking someone to carry out sloganeering at the sacred spot." The incident has received significant censure.