Police on Thursday returned “empty-handed” from the residence of former Punjab Chief Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central president Pervez Elahi in Lahore’s Gulberg area, where they raided to arrest him on corruption charges. His lawyer confirmed.
The development came after an anti-corruption court denied him interim bail for failing to appear in court, citing health issues.
His arrest is wanted in a corruption case of Rs 70 million related to embezzlement of development funds allocated for Gujarat district.
An anti-corruption court judge declared his medical certificate, which claimed that Elahi had chest pains, to be a fake.
A heavy contingent of police and anti-corruption personnel led by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operation Police was assigned the task of arresting the PTI leader.
Elahi’s spokesperson said that the PTI president was not present at his residence.
During the raid, roads leading to Zahoor Elahi House, Elahi’s residence, were closed for traffic.
Elahi’s lawyer Asim Cheema said his client was granted bail in all the cases registered till May 2 and added that his bail was dismissed in one case earlier today due to an old medical certificate. .
He said that the police will not be allowed to enter the house without a search warrant.
Later, speaking to the media, Elahi’s lawyer said that police and anti-corruption officials had come to arrest his client without a search warrant.
Cheema said the police searched the entire house and came up empty-handed as Elahi was not present at the house.
“All the cases [against Elahi] are false. Such cases were never registered under the interim government,” he added.
