Police rounded up Sheikh Rashid, former interior minister and PTI chief Imran Khan’s close confidant, in an undisclosed case from the federal capital on Sunday. Simultaneously, authorities rearrested PTI Central President Parvez Elahi shortly after his release in a corruption case in Lahore.
Sheikh Rashid, who also heads the Awami Muslim League (AML) party, was at his home in a private housing society on the outskirts of Islamabad when alleged Rawalpindi Police personnel, including some officials in plain clothes, raided the place and detained Sheikh Rashid and three others.
Sources in the police revealed that after the arrest, the AML chief was transferred from Islamabad to Rawalpindi, Sheikh Rashid’s native town, amid heightened security.
Read more: Sheikh Rashid predicts emergence of 'new politics'
However, the Rawalpindi Police spokesperson issued a statement on Sunday night, claiming that they neither arrested the politician nor had him in their custody.
Responding to the statement, Sheikh Rashid’s lawyer, Sardar Abdul Razzaq, also issued a video statement, asserting that Rawalpindi Police had indeed detained his client from his residence in the Lohi Bher area.
"The operation was led by Rawalpindi’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operation Faisal Suleman. SHO New Town, SHO Saddar Lines, and SHO Westridge were also part of the raiding team,” he said.
"They arrested Sheikh Rashid, his nephew Sheikh Shakir, employee Sheikh Imran, and driver Sajjad, and transferred them to an undisclosed location."
The lawyer said there are no cases against Sheikh Rashid in Rawalpindi or throughout Punjab, and his client was being unlawfully detained without any charges.
Sheikh Rashid Shafique, the former minister’s nephew, said his uncle had categorically condemned the acts of vandalism that followed the whirlwind arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan on May 9.
"The police arrested Sheikh Rashid from Islamabad, and they also apprehended my elder brother Sheikh Shakir and an employee Sheikh Imran."
"Punjab and Islamabad police had submitted to the courts that Sheikh Rashid was not wanted in any case; therefore, his arrest now is beyond comprehension."
He said Sheikh Rashid has always followed a policy of integrity and service.
سابق وفاقی وزیر داخلہ شیخ رشید احمد کی گرفتاری کے حوالے سے سابق ایم این اے شیخ راشد شفیق کا ویڈیو پیغام جاری pic.twitter.com/dVQfhcrV4U
— Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (@ShkhRasheed) September 17, 2023
“I demand that the Supreme Court order authorities to explain why Sheikh Rashid was arrested. If anything happens to him, the [caretaker] federal and Punjab governments will be held responsible," Shafiq, who belongs to the PTI, said in a video message.
Meanwhile, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi was once again detained on Sunday, marking his twelfth arrest since June. This occurred just minutes after a judicial magistrate in Lahore ordered his release in the Lahore Master Plan irregularities case.
On September 1, Islamabad Police had arrested Elahi in Lahore under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, despite explicit orders from the Lahore High Court (LHC) not to arrest the septuagenarian politician in any case.
When the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the detention order on September 5, the police rearrested the former chief minister in a terrorism case at Islamabad Police Lines.
Also read: Sheikh Rashid seeks stay on possible action against Lal Haveli
The Anti-Terrorism Court-1 (ATC) in Islamabad granted bail to Elahi in the case on September 15. However, the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) arrested him in the Lahore Master Plan irregularities case on September 16, Saturday, as he was emerging from Adiala Jail.
The PTI leader was later shifted to Lahore, where he was presented before a judicial magistrate.
The court reserved its decision on the ACE’s request. Later, it dismissed the request, discharging PTI Central President in the case.
“Prima facie, no incriminating material is available against the accused, which can connect him with the commission of the alleged offence. Hence, the accused person, namely Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, is hereby discharged in this case,” the judgment read.
However, freedom eluded Elahi once again as he was arrested on charges of being involved in terrorism in Rawalpindi. He will be shifted to Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, from where he was released only a day ago.
Elahi's counsel, Sardar Abdul Razzaq, told The Express Tribune that the PTI leader had been rounded up at least 12 times since June 1.
The PTI, the former ruling party of the country, faced massive disintegration amid a crackdown launched in the wake of the May 9 riots, during which alleged PTI supporters had set fire to and damaged state and army properties and memorials.
While dozens of PTI leaders announced quitting the party in hastily called press conferences, some leaders who had recently joined the party, like Parvez Elahi and allies like Sheikh Rashid, held their ground.
(WITH INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN LAHORE)
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