GUJRAT , May 2, 2023: A police team conducted a raid at the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President and former chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Monday night.
Moonis Elahi, the son of former chief minister’s son, confirmed the development in a Twitter post where he also shared a video showing police official standing outside the house.
“Punjab police again at Kunjah House in Gujrat to conduct another raid. I have told them to give them access although they still don’t have a search warrant,” he wrote on Twitter.
The police team along with officials of the anti-corruption department searched the house to take the former CM into custody. However, they returned without arrest after failing to find him at the home.
The raid comes days after police action at Mr Elahi’s Lahore residence on Friday night. The operation continued for six hours during which police broke the main gate of his residence, using an armored vehicle but it was halted after police and ACE officials failed to find him. The police also faced resistance during the operation with ACE DG Sohail Zafar Chattha claiming that a petrol bomb was hurled at the raiding party who came to arrest the former chief minister. During the raid, the police arrested 12 people including employees of the Chaudhry family.
The operation was later challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) by Parvez Elahi’s son Rasikh Elahi through his lawyer Amir Saeed, making the Punjab government, ACE and police respondents in the case.
The petitioner argued that the raid was conducted even though the LHC had approved protective bail for his father. He pleaded the court to issue an order for removing the police from the Zahoor Elahi Road.
He also sought orders to restrict the police from arresting Parvez Elahi, adding that action should be taken against the officers involved in the late-night raid. Rasikh urged the court to stop authorities from arresting his family members till decision on the petition.
The police action comes as the PTI and PDM government are set to hold crucial talks today in order to resolve the issues related to elections.