Former interior minister Sheikh Rashid arrested in Pindi

RAWALPINDI: Law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) Sunday arrested the Awami Muslim League (AML) Chairman Sheikh Rashid Ahmad from a house in a housing society.

Sheikh was arrested along with two persons, including his nephew. The police officially confirmed the arrest of AML leader.

The AML chief was shifted to an unknown location for investigation.

Some officials engaged in the investigation claimed that Shaikh Rashid was arrested from Lal Haveli, but it could not be confirmed.

Sources said large contingents of police and other LEAs surrounded the house where the AML chief was hiding.

His counsel Sardar Abdur Razak confirmed the arrest by plain-clothed personnel.

Reacting to the arrest in a media post, a PTI spokesman said, “The ongoing political victimisation and authoritarianism persist with the arrest of Sheikh Rashid.”

No case was registered against the AML chief in the limits of Punjab, his counsel said, adding that Rashid was nominated in a case lodged by the Kohsar police station in connection with a protest rally held on May 10 by the PTI against the detention of Imran Khan. “We do not know the whereabouts of Rashid so far. Efforts are being made to trace him,” his lawyer said. A statement shared on X confirmed that Sheikh Rashid was arrested along with his brother Sheikh Shakir and a domestic help after the Maghrib prayers, reports Geo News. In their written statements in Lahore and Islamabad high courts, the police had already admitted that Sheikh Rashid was not wanted by them in any case, the statement said.