LAHORE: A joint team of the anti-corruption and police raided the residence of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, in the small hours of Saturday morning, apparently to arrest him in an investigation in which he is on bail until May 6.
The officials used an armoured vehicle to forcefully enter the property in the upscale Gulberg neighbourhood of Lahore and arrest 12 people, mainly Elahi’s employees, while female police officers took some women into custody.
TV footage revealed that the raiding team resorted to physical force, with riot police officers beating the domestic help using batons.
Late night operation: Pakistan’s Punjab Police enters Former Chief Minister Punjab and President PTI Pervaiz Elahi’s house in Lahore. pic.twitter.com/bkkYnyAJEA
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) April 28, 2023
Despite a thorough search of the premises until at least 2:00 am on Saturday, the officials failed to locate the former chief minister of Punjab.
شاباش پنجاب پولیس. اسی لیے چودھری پرویزالٰہی نے بیوروکریٹس کی مرضی کے خلاف آپ کو مراعات دلوائیں pic.twitter.com/P0j5x5G8wW
— Moonis Elahi (@MoonisElahi6) April 29, 2023
Furthermore, the officials also attempted to enter the adjacent residence of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) party. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, as Hussain’s sons resisted the officials’ efforts to gain entry.
‘DISMANTLING OF DEMOCRACY’
Responding to the crackdown through a series of tweets on early Saturday, former prime minister Imran Khan, Khan promised to provide a “roadmap” to resist the government’s actions against his opposition party.
Strongly condemn the illegal raid on Pervez Elahi’s home with no respect to the women & family mbrs present. We are seeing the dismantling of democracy in Pak before our eyes. There is no respect for Constitution, SC verdicts, or fundamental rights of the ppl – only law of jungle
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 28, 2023
Khan strongly denounced the raid on Elahi’s home, saying it showed no respect for the women and family members present.
He further expressed his concerns that the current government was dismantling democracy in Pakistan before their eyes. Khan questioned whether similar action had been taken against the Sharifs and Zardaris, who are currently in power and have faced corruption allegations.
Khan ended his statement by declaring that enough was enough and that he would provide a roadmap to the nation on how to stand up against the destruction of their constitution and democracy.
More details to follow