Police return ‘empty-handed’ from Parvez Elahi’s Lahore residence

The police on Thursday returned “empty-handed” from former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central President Parvez Elahi's residence in Lahore’s Gulberg area where they conducted raid to arrest him on corruption charges, his lawyer confirmed.

The development came after an anti-corruption court earlier today discarded his interim bail over his failure to appear before the court citing health issues.

His arrest is required in the Rs70 million corruption case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district.

The anti-corruption court judge declared that his medical certificate bogus which claimed that Elahi had been experiencing chest pain.

A heavy contingent of police and anti-corruption personnel led by the deputy inspector general (DIG) operation police was tasked with arresting the PTI leader.

The Elahi's spokesperson said the PTI president was not present at his residence.

The roads leading to Zahoor Elahi House, Elahi’s residence, were closed for traffic during the raid.

Elahi’s counsel Asim Cheema said his client bail was approved in all cases which were registered till May 2 and added that his bail was discarded in one of the cases earlier today over old medical certificate.

He said police would not be allowed to enter the house without search warrant.

Later, speaking to the media, Elahi’s counsel said police and anti-corruption officials came to arrest his client without search warrant.

Cheema said the police searched the entire house and left empty-handed as Elahi was not present at home

“All cases [against Elahi] are false. Such cases have never been registered under interim government,” he added.