Parvez Elahi, the President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been detained by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab in connection with four corruption cases. This comes a day after he was granted bail in the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) attack case by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad.
Parvez Elahi’s bail in the FJC attack case was approved by the ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain against a surety bond of Rs20,000. However, Elahi’s legal team failed to pay the bail bond, leading to his arrest by the ACE.
The PTI president has been repeatedly arrested and detained since the May 9 riots. Despite explicit orders from the Lahore High Court (LHC) restricting authorities from arresting him, he was apprehended shortly after his release from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody on September 1.
The latest arrest is related to the Lahore Master Plan 2050 corruption case, according to an ACE spokesperson. Elahi is accused of committing fraud to financially benefit himself in the project, attempting to merge his lands in Lahore by manipulating the plan, using fake seals and monograms of a consultant firm to change the Master Plan, and adding fake documents to it. It is alleged that he attempted to convert agricultural land to commercial and residential to make a significant financial gain.
The ACE spokesperson further stated that Parvez Elahi misused his authority to obtain approval for the project from relevant officers. A case has been registered against him in Lahore for forgery in the Master Plan, and all suspects involved in the Lahore Master Plan case will be apprehended, according to the spokesperson.