Police raided my home, ‘stole’ vehicle: PTI’s Ayub

Former PM’s aide Shahzad Akbar claims LEAs raided his residence, took away his brother

ISLAMABAD:

As the crackdown on PTI leaders continues, newly appointed secretary general of the party Omar Ayub on Sunday maintained that the Islamabad police raided his residence and took away his vehicle.

In a tweet, the forrmer federal minister claimed that cops from Islamabad’s Shalimar police station raided his house at around 12:30am without a search warrant and “stole” his parked Toyota Hilux Twin Cabin Model 2011.

“[The[ Islamabad police [are] indulging in illegal searches and now vehicle thefts,” he added.

“Members of the judiciary, civil servants and diplomats should take care of their vehicles as the police [have] resorted to stealing vehicles to top up their salaries in these super high inflationary times!!,” he continued.

Ayub also pondered where was he supposed to have a case registered for his stolen vehicle as the police themselves were allegedly involved in the act.

Read more: 'Standing with Imran', says Sheikh Rashid as PTI exodus continues

“Do I ask the thieves to catch the thieves?”, he raised the question.

Ayub was appointed the PTI’s secretrary general after Asad Umar stepped down from the post on Wednesday.

“This is a great honour and I shall endeavour to work incessantly for Pakistan and PTI. I will try my utmost to come up to the expectations of the chairman and our PTI members,” Ayub had tweeted back then.

Earlier, he had alleged that the Malir Cantt Police raided the home of former Karachi MNA Jamil Ahmed Khan.

“Malir Cantt Police has raided the home of Captain (Retd) Jamil MNA, harassed his family & taken his vehicles. All this because he is a PTI MNA? Condemn this in the strongest terms. Sanity should prevail at all costs,” he had tweeted.

In a related development, former adviser to the prime minister on interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar also claimed that the law enforcement agencies had raided his Islamabad residence and taken away his brother.

“Everyone knows I am not in country but Rangers and police (25-30 armed) .. attacked my house in Islamabad at 1am, broke doors and kidnapped my younger brother,” he tweeted.

Earlier, PTI sources said police had raided the residences of Malik Wajid, Haji Shaukat Ali, Arbab Sher Ali, Murad Saeed, and Aysha Bano.

On May 9, PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court by dozens of Rangers personnel in connection with a corruption case, triggering countrywide protests.

Enraged PTI protesters allegedly damaged public and private properties, particularly targeting military installations.

Later, the National Security Committee, which comprises the civil leadership and military high-ups, endorsed a decision made during a meeting of corps commanders to invoke the Army Act and Official Secrets Act against people suspected of involvement in the May 9 violence which damaged the state and private properties across the country -- meaning they would be tried in military courts.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore then ordered the Camp Jail superintendent to hand over 16 people, including a former PTI MPA, accused of attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence -- also known as Jinnah House -- during the May 9 protests to the army to initiate trials against them in the military courts.

(With input from agencies)