LAHORE : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President and former chief minister Punjab Parvez Elahi was finally arrested by anti-corruption establishment (ACE) Punjab officials from Lahore outside his home on Thursday.
The former Punjab chief minister was taken into custody by the anti-corruption personnel after pulling over his car near Zahoor Elahi's residence in Lahore’s Gulberg area. Parvez Elahi's Spokesperson Iqbal Chaudhry has confirmed the development.
The development came after an anti-corruption court last week discarded his interim bail over his failure to appear before the court citing health issues. His arrest was required in the Rs70 million corruption case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district.
The anti-corruption court Gujranwala judge also declared Elahi's medical certificate bogus which claimed that he had been experiencing chest pain.
Elahi had been evading arrest since May 9 — following which several PTI members and leaders have been arrested on allegations of their involvement in vandalism — as authorities continued to visit his house for his arrest in a multiple times.
On May 26, a district court in Lahore had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Elahi in a case of embezzlement of development funds.
“The pre-arrest bail of the accused was dismissed due to non-prosecution vide order dated May 25 and he is not appearing before the court and also not joining the investigation. In view of the request of the IO, let non-bailable arrest warrants of accused Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi be issued for June 2, 2023, ” the court order read.
Caretaker Information Minister Punjab Amir Mir confirmed that Elahi was in his vehicle and "trying to flee" when he was arrested near his residence on Zahoor Elahi Road. "Yes, he has been arrested from the Zahoor Elahi road. He was arrested while trying to flee, " the provincial information minister told a private news channel.
"Several raids were carried out at his residence. He was wanted. Today, out of the blue, a couple of bullet-proof cars came out [of the house]. He was in one of the cars, " he said.
Amir Mir said former Punjab CM had been arrested in a corruption case, adding that he would be shifted to the anti-corruption headquarters shortly. “The area around his house had been cordoned off for last couple of days, ” he added.
At first, he resisted but when the police tried to break the mirrors, he came out of his car, he said. “Talks of human rights violations should be toned down because he is an accused, ” he added. “He will be treated in jails as other accused are treated, ” he said.
Reports said that Parvez Elahi had been under the police’s watch for a number of days and he was detained from his residence in Gulberg. “As the police got the information on his whereabouts, they took robust action and detained him, " reports added.
"There were suspicions of his arrest as he had been scheduled to meet some political leaders today", reports said.
Police had been tracking his location for the last couple of days, reports said. "There is no information on where he will be shifted, " reports added.
"However, police personnel have been deployed at Lahore's anti-corruption directorate, but later he could be transported to Gujranwala for further proceedings, " reports added.