Police and an anti-corruption team raided the residence of Tehreek-e-Insaf President and former Chief Minister Pervez Elahi, located at Zahoor Elahi Road in Lahore.
Police personnel in plainclothes were also present along with the raiding party in and around Zahoor Elahi Road.
A large number of senior lawyers are also present at Pervaiz Elahi’s residence including Lahore Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar presidents.
A special Anti-Corruption Court of Lahore announced its reserved verdict on former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi’s bail plea in a billion-rupee bribery and corruption case on Friday.
Anti-Corruption Court Judge Ali Raza extended the bail till May 6.
The anti-corruption court reserved its decision on Elahi’s bail application as he appeared in court over the expiry of his interim bail. The court had granted interim bail to Parvez Elahi till today.
The search operation continued until at least 2 am on Saturday and the police failed to lay hands on Mr Elahi, who was said to not be in the house.
The Anti-Corruption Establishment said that its Gujranwala team had arrived at Mr Elahi’s house to arrest him in a corruption case.
While Mr Elahi’s legal team said that his pre-arrest bail had already been taken from a court until May 6, the ACE team insisted that Mr Elahi was required in a new case and they would not leave without arresting the PTI leader.
Mr Elahi’s lawyers assured the ACE officials about the bail and also connected them with a court official by phone, but the raising team refused to budge.
“Punjab police is at our residence to arrest my father right now in a case for which he got bail today. His bail hearing was covered by all media outlets,” Moonis Elahi, Mr Elahi’s son and a former federal minister, tweeted around midnight.
He added that PTI Chairman Imran Khan “is absolutely right: Rule of Law has ended in Pakistan”.
The PTI also strongly condemned the raid at Mr Elahi’s house and described it as a step to sabotage the ongoing talks with the government over elections.
