PTI has strongly condemned the late-night raid at the residence of party president Parvez Elahi, criticizing the use of excessive force by the police authorities.
A heavy contingent of Punjab Police Friday night raided Parvez Elahi’s residence to arrest him. The raid was six-hour long and ended only when Sohail Zafar Chattha, the Director General of Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), left the scene along with the police contingent.
At least 27 individuals, including servants working in the household of the former Punjab chief minister and PTI workers protesting at the scene, have been arrested by the police.
Read more: Police action against Islamabad sit-in protestors leads to violence
Videos of the raid are being widely shared on social media. The videos show Punjab police breaking down the doors of Parvez Elahi’s house. An armoured personnel carrier (APC) of police broke the main gate of the residence.
مقبوضہ کشمیر نہیں پنجاب پاکستان لاہور پرویز الہی کے گھر کے مناظر pic.twitter.com/YVUnzviJui
— Tehreek-e-Insaf (@InsafPK) April 28, 2023
Pertinent to mention here that the anti-corruption department told the media that the law enforcers have raided the house to inform the PTI president that he had not received bail in the case, but due to the resistance faced from inside, police had to take action.
ہمارا پاکستان#PakistanUnderFasicsm pic.twitter.com/nULR0E3Yv9
— Qasim Khan Suri (@QasimKhanSuri) April 29, 2023
Nevertheless, the raid has been strongly criticized by PTI leaders, including Chairman Imran Khan who said that it was an illegal raid on his home, with no regard for the presence of women and family members.
Imran Khan alleged that the London Plan was being used to crush his party’s morale while also questioning whether the state would dare raid the homes of the looters and money launderers such as the Sharif and Zardari families in the same manner.
Strongly condemn the illegal raid on Pervez Elahi's home with no respect to the women & family mbrs present. We are seeing the dismantling of democracy in Pak before our eyes. There is no respect for Constitution, SC verdicts, or fundamental rights of the ppl – only law of jungle
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 28, 2023
Pervaiz Elahi has got the bail today so why is Police illegally entering his house to arrest him? Like Ali Amin and many others Pervaiz Elahi is being targeted for standing with Imran Khan https://t.co/xjzFvUmebe
— Dr Arslan Khalid (@arslankhalid_m) April 28, 2023
Shocking the brazen attack on Pervaiz Elahie’s house. Deliberate demonstration of coercive state power. Misbehaviour with women and manhandling of staff. Elements within this useless government clearly do not want the talks for elections to succeed. Calculated sabotage
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) April 29, 2023
پرویز الٰہی کے گھر رات کو حملہ کرکے ، چادر اور چاردیواری پامال کر کے، عوام میں اپنے لئے نفرت کو بڑھانے کے علاوہ اور کیا حاصل کیا؟ #PakistanUnderFasicsm
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) April 29, 2023
The raid also comes at a time when the PTI and the PDM government are currently holding negotiations on Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections. Hours before the raid, PTI and members of the coalition government held their second round of negotiations.
“Negotiations on one hand and arrests on the other. The raid on the house of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi proves that Ishaq Dar, Saad Rafiq, and Azam Tarar have no status in their government. Strongly condemn this raid,” Fawad Chaudhry said.
ایک طرف مذاکرات دوسری طرف گرفتاریاں؟ چوہدری پرویز الہی کے گھر چھاپہ سے ثابت ہوتا ہے کہ اسحق ڈار، سعد رفیق اور اعظم تارڑ کی اپنی حکومت میں کوئ حیثیت نہیں ، اس چھاپے کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 28, 2023
In February this year, police raided the former Punjab chief minister’s house twice, but returned without arresting him. In March, Punjab Police also raided Khan’s Zaman Park residence, which was called off after court orders.
Read more: Why was Parvez Elahi’s Gujrat residence raided?