Mission arrest Parvez Elahi failed, brutality exposed

27 people were arrested during a police operation that lasted almost eight hours.

The police had raided the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi to arrest him, but he was not present. The police claimed that Elahi’s mobile phone’s location showed that he was present at the residence, but after the arrest of the house help, they found that he was there.

The PTI criticised the police’s actions, alleging that its workers and leaders were also being arrested. The police halted the operation after the Director General of Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) left the scene with the police contingent.

The PTI had earlier challenged the appointment of Sohail Zafar Chattha as DG ACE in court. The raid comes after talks between the PTI and Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government regarding election dates. The PTI called for the stopping of the arrests of its workers during the talks. Analysts have said that the pressure tactics of the authorities are boosting Khan’s popularity.

Moonis Elahi, son of the former Punjab chief minister, condemned the police action, saying that his father had already been granted bail. PTI chief Imran Khan condemned the raid as an illegal action and said that it was being used to crush his party’s morale.