Pervez Elahi, the former chief minister of Punjab, requested that the Lahore High Court (LHC) halt the detention of him on Tuesday.
When the LHC heard the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader’s complaint against the police raid on his house last week, which was brought by his son Rasikh Elahi, he made the request.
The director general of the Anti-Corruption Establishment and the inspector general of the Punjab Police received notifications from Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar during the hearing.
The hearing was postponed to May 8 by the court, which also demanded information regarding the charges brought against the former chief minister of Punjab.
After conducting a similar operation at Elahi’s home in Lahore two days prior, police executed a raid on his Gujrat property hours before LHC’s refusal.
While the anti-corruption department, which was involved in the Lahore raid, denied any involvement, police briefly searched the former chief minister’s residence in Gujrat, Kunjah House.
19 persons, largely his staff, were taken into custody during the Friday night raid by anti-corruption and police authorities who used an armoured truck to smash open the PTI president’s Gulberg home’s main gate.
The former chief minister was also charged with terrorism for allegedly “attacking” the police during the raid that took place late at night.
The federal government disassociated itself from the police raid and blamed the action on the provincial authorities.
Just hours prior to the crucial election negotiations between the PTI and the multi-party ruling coalition in the Centre, police action was taken. The opposition party had previously issued a warning that if the arrests and raids continued, the negotiations might fail.
The son of the former CM, Moonis Elahi, claimed that despite the police lacking a search warrant to perform the raid, he gave them permission to enter the property.
Moonis told the reporters that the Punjab Police had previously searched his father’s home in a similar manner.
Authorities from six to seven police stations roped off the area prior to the raid, sources informed.
The police claimed that after knocking on the door repeatedly and getting no response, they were forced to enter the house by climbing the walls.
