By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Police and anti-corruption officials attempted to arrest Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, former chief minister of Punjab and current president of opposition party Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf, during a late-night raid on his Lahore residence.
However, Elahi was not present at the time and the raid was unsuccessful. The search continued until at least 2 am on Saturday.
Television channels showed police using an armored vehicle to force open the main gate of Elahi’s residence and detaining at least 12 individuals, primarily his employees, from the premises.
Female police officers also took several women into custody.
The police were seen on television forcibly entering the house by climbing over the boundary walls, and riot police officials used batons to restrain the resisting employees of the Elahi family.
Social media was subsequently inundated with footage of police action around Elahi’s residence.
Police also attempted to enter the adjacent residence of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, a relative of Elahi and an ally of the coalition government, but they were opposed by Hussain’s sons.
The raid occurred just hours after the government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the opposition party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan made progress towards resolving the impasse over the timing of elections.
The two sides agreed to hold a final round of talks on May 2 to attempt to form a consensus on a date for the upcoming elections.
Elahi’s legal team informed the police that his pre-arrest bail had already been granted by a court until May 6, but the police insisted that Elahi was required in a new case, and they would not leave without arresting the former chief minister.
“Punjab police is at our residence to arrest my father right now in a case for which he got bail today. His bail hearing was covered by all media outlets,” Moonis Elahi, Elahi’s son, and a former federal minister, tweeted.
The PTI also strongly condemned the raid on Elahi’s house and described it as a move to undermine the ongoing talks with the government regarding elections.
“We are witnessing the dismantling of democracy in Pakistan before our eyes. There is no respect for the Constitution, Supreme Court verdicts, or fundamental rights of the people – only the law of the jungle,” former Prime Minister Imran Khan said.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
