The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday rejected former Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi’s to stop the police from arresting him.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader had made the request when LHC took up his plea, filed by his son Rasikh Elahi, against the police action on his house last week.
During the hearing, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar also issued notices to the inspector general of the Punjab Police and the director general Anti-Corruption Establishment.
The court also summoned the details of the cases registered against the former Punjab chief minister and adjourned the hearing till May 8.
LHC’s rejection came hours after police raided Elahi’s residence in Gujrat two days after they conducted a similar operation at his house in Lahore.
Kunjah House, the former CM's residence in Gujrat, was searched by the police for a brief period, with the anti-corruption department — which was involved in the Lahore raid — denying any involvement.
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In the Friday night raid, anti-corruption and police officials used an armoured vehicle to break open the main gate of the PTI president's Gulberg residence and arrested 19 people, mostly his employees, from the house.
The former chief minister was also booked under terror charges for "attacking" the police during the late-night raid.
The police action came just hours before the crucial talks on elections between the PTI and the multi-party ruling alliance in the Centre. The opposition party had already warned that the negotiations could derail if the arrests and raids did not stop.
Moonis Elahi, the former CM's son, alleged that although the police did not have the search warrant to conduct the raid, he allowed them access to the premises.
Moonis informed the media that the Punjab Police had conducted a similar search on his father's residence in the past.
Sources told that law enforcers from six to seven police stations had cordoned off the area before the raid.
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However, the police officers entered the residence by scaling the walls, claiming that their repeated door knocks went unanswered which forced them to do so.