Elahi is arrested on terrorism allegations.
The raiding squad “attacked with gasoline, stones, and batons,” according to the police complaint.
LAHORE: On Saturday, the Punjab police booked former chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Central President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on terror charges; however, he was granted bail by the court till May 6.
On Saturday morning, Lahore police and members of the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab, stormed Elahi’s home to apprehend him.
The raiding parties stayed for over three hours and arrested about nine persons, but Elahi eluded capture the entire time.
On Friday, the ACE had already arrested a close friend of Elahi’s son, Moonis, before conducting the raid at the former CM’s apartment.
The ACE agreed to delay Elahi’s arrest until May 6 after receiving the bail documents.
The court-issued bail application for Elahi was reportedly submitted by his attorneys to the ACE.
Elahi has been granted interim bail by the court until May 6.
According to ACE’s sources, the inquiry into Elahi would continue in accordance with Punjabi law.
People taken into custody after the raid on the former chief minister’s home, so the reports say.
It was said that the detained individuals “threw petrol bombs and pelted stones at the police and the ACE team.”
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Details suggest that 50 people have been charged with a crime at the Lahore police station serving the Ghalib Market area.
The FIR includes 13 allegations, including attempted murder, rioting, and attack on government officials, all of which are covered by Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.
An FIR was filed after an anti-corruption officer reported being attacked with petrol bombs, stones, and batons during a raid.
The complaint also alleges that Elahi received help to avoid capture during the raid.
Elahi and seven others, including a subdistrict officer and a contractor with the Gujrat Highway Department, have been charged with corruption twice in as many years, each time under a different law.
Details indicate that a case with number 6/23 was filed at the Gujranwala ACE police station on the report of head constable Muhammad Basharat. Elahi is accused of taking kickbacks and abusing his power as chief minister by constructing a nine-kilometer bridge at taxpayer expense.
MS Construction Company of Mudassar Abbas, who is the secretary of highway contractor Haji Tariq, was awarded the contract of Chhatanwala and Darya Kothana, valued at over Rs100 million.
The public face of Elahi, Sohail Asghar, allegedly accepted Rs5 million in bribes.
Although the work in question was of adequate quality, the public coffers were damaged because of collusion that allowed the performance guarantee to be issued ahead of schedule.
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On April 27, a case was filed under sections 161- 471/409,420/468,5/2/47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Elahi, XEN Meher Azmat of the Gujrat Highway Department, SDO Ashfaq Ahmed, Sub-Engineer Sulaiman Ahmed, contractor Mudassar Abbas, Haji Tariq, and Sohail Asghar.
The second case, number 7/23, was filed with the Gujranwala ACE police station on April 29 by Officer Abdul Waqar.
A 29-kilometer route from Old GT route to Lakhanwal was awarded to a highway building business the former chief minister liked in exchange for a bribe of up to Rs10 billion. There was already money set aside for the project’s advance.
“Muhammad Asghar’s son, Sohail, is just as much a part of this deal as anyone else.”
Damages to the public coffers resulted from the poor workmanship of the aforementioned road.
A case was filed under sections 161/162, 165A/34, 5/2/47 of the PCA against six suspects at the request of the anti-corruption director in Gujranwala.
Elahi’s son Rasikh filed a petition with the Lahore High Court earlier in the day asking the court to instruct the police to halt their operation at the family’s home on Zahoor Elahi Road.
In his plea, Rasikh claimed that police officers had broken protocol by entering his home without a warrant and had conducted the operation as if they were in Waziristan or the tribal areas of South Punjab.
He elicited responses from the chief secretary of Punjab, the DG of ACE, the AD of ACE, the SSP of Operations in Lahore, and the SP of Model Town.
He said that the Gujranwala ACE filed FIR 06/23 against his father on April 27, 2023, and that his father subsequently sought and received protective bail from the LHC, which was granted till May 6, 2023.
On April 28 around 11 p.m., the respondents, accompanied by 300–400 police officers, broke through the petitioner’s main gate using an armored personnel carrier (APC), notwithstanding court orders to the contrary. The police force not only damaged the petitioner’s front gate, but also his interior doors.
An evening raid
Before beginning the operation, police barricaded both ends of Zahoor Elahi Road. Elahi’s legal team had contacted the raiding team beforehand and notified them that their client had been granted protective bail.
When talks between the legal and ACE teams broke down, the ARF attempted to gain entry. The workmen within the house, however, resisted this with all their might.
The police ascended the wall and tried again to smash the gate, but this time they were met by stone pelting. Police said they were also attacked with water laced with gasoline and kerosene oil.
Eventually, after several fruitless efforts, the police used an APC to break down the main gate and gain access to the building. The police subsequently detained more than seven PTI members.
The policeman kicked in the doors and smashed the windows to gain entry. Elahi’s female relatives informed the police that he was not at home when they met with them in the drawing room.
Elahi’s home was searched, and then the police moved on to Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s home in the same massive complex and using the same entrance. Salik Hussain, Shujaat’s son, told the authorities that Elahi wasn’t at home.
