PTI President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was apprehended outside his residence in Lahore on Thursday in connection with a corruption case. Video footage showed Elahi being forcefully taken away on a road during the arrest, which followed multiple unsuccessful raids at his house.
Confirming his arrest, Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir told Geo News that the former provincial chief executive was taken into custody by the Anti-Corruption Establishment with the assistance of the police.
He also clarified that Elahi had not been arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order, unlike other PTI members and leaders who were arrested following allegations of their involvement in vandalism on May 9 amid protests sparked by party chief Imran Khan’s arrest.
“His (Elahi’s) bail was dismissed in [a corruption] case,” he said. “He was wanted and has been arrested while trying to escape.”
Separately, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab, stated that PTI President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was “wanted” in multiple cases and his bail was rejected by an anti-corruption court a few days ago.
The ACE claimed that the PTI leader had submitted “fake medical certificates” to secure bail but did not specify the case for which Elahi has been arrested.
Dawn.com has reached out to authorities to confirm the graft case in which Elahi has been arrested.
The Arrest
Mir informed DawnNewsTV that Elahi’s residence had been “cordoned off” for several days as part of the strategy to apprehend him.
“He left his house in a car today, along with another car in which some women were traveling. We already had the information that he would try to leave [today],” Mir said, adding that authorities intercepted Elahi’s car, intending to check the vehicle.
“But they refused, and upon resistance, police tried to break that glass on the driver’s side [as the car was bulletproof],” Mir added.
He said Elahi came out of the car after authorities attempted to break the glass.
Elahi’s spokesperson, Iqbal Chaudhry, alleged that authorities “misbehaved” with women accompanying Elahi during the arrest.
According to Mir, Elahi will now be presented in court, and his legal team will have access to him afterward.
Condemnations
Meanwhile, his son Moonis Elahi, shortly after the arrest, asserted that his father would remain with the PTI.
“A series of crackdowns began in January and at that time, my father told me that even if he is arrested, we must stand” with the party chief, he tweeted. “Three days ago, my parents reiterated the same thing.”
“Now it is being said that my father has been arrested in false cases,” he said, adding: “We are with PTI and will remain with the party.”
Separately, PTI leader Farrukh Habib criticized Elahi’s arrest as “an act of revenge.”
PTI leader Babar Awan also condemned the arrest, claiming that Elahi was “intercepted while he was with his family and harassed before the arrest.”
This, he tweeted, indicated the absence of constitutional rights or legal protection in the country.
“Pervaiz Elahi’s arrest is condemnable, and I hope that courts will provide him justice,” he added. Elahi’s arrest is the latest in a series following the state’s crackdown on PTI leadership after the May 9 riots.
Currently, Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, Ali Muhammad Khan, Yasmin Rashid, Mehmoodur Rasheed, and others from the PTI are also under arrest.
