KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Punjab former chief minister Parvez Elahi’s ex-principal secretary was arrested from Matiari on Monday night.
Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the secretary of the Punjab Assembly, is wanted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE). He is accused of bribery and money laundering allegations totaling Rs460 million.
Matiari SSP Kaleem Malik and Hyderabad SSP Amjad Shaikh did not respond to phone calls.
Bhatti was going to Karachi with four other persons, including a senior Gujrat police official, to seek protective bail from the Sindh High Court in regard to cases brought against him in Sindh.
Police personnel from various divisions were on the scene in the Matiari and Hyderabad districts. The police officer and two other people were able to escape when they were stopped at the Matiari Bypass.
Parvez Elahi described the arrest as “a case of open lawlessness in Sindh”. He hoped that CM Murad Ali Shah would take urgent notice of this lawlessness. Furthermore, he cautioned the Sindh IGP that “such instances would lead to contempt among the provinces.”
Parvez Elahi expressed concern that the secretary of the Punjab Assembly might be included among the “missing” like his legal advisor Amir Saeed Rawn.
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According to him, every Pakistani has the legal right to apply for protective bail to a high court. Although, the manner in which Bhatti was held in custody raised major questions.
The ACE also seized Muhammad Khan Bhatti‘s laptop and other stuff from his Lahore home during the operation. Nabil, another one of his employees, was also detained.
