Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central President and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Monday was arrested once again by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team shortly after he was released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
Elahi had been released by the prison authorities following the expiration of his detention period. However, as he emerged from the central gate of Adiala Jail, a NAB team comprising personnel from Rawalpindi and Lahore took him into custody once again. Subsequently, the NAB team promptly presented Elahi before a local court, where they sought a transitory remand. The court, in response, granted a one-day transitory remand of the former Punjab chief minister.
The duty judge directed that the accused be presented before the accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday. The NAB team later left for Lahore. Elahi is among the individuals charged in a bribery case involving the acceptance of illicit payments in return for favourably granting contracts for road projects within the Gujrat Highways Division.
His co-defendants encompass his son, Moonis Elahi, along with Mahr Azmat Hayat and others. The case asserts that Elahi and Moonis received kickbacks directly from Azmat and indirectly through their accountant, Imtiaz Ali Shah.
The case also alleges that the accused parties played a role in causing substantial financial losses to the government treasury, amounting to millions of rupees. These actions are claimed to constitute offences of corruption and unethical practices, as outlined in Section 9(a) of the NAB ordinance of 1999.
This is not the first time the PTI leader was rearrested following his release from prison. On June 26, former deputy prime minister was arrested once again after a Lahore special court granted him bail against surety bonds worth Rs10,000 in a graft case. The FIA produced Elahi in district and sessions court, seeking his 14-day physical remand. However, the court rejected the request for a physical remand, sending Elahi to jail on judicial remand.
