ISLAMABAD: Irfan Siddiqui, a close aide to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was arrested during a late Friday night raid on his residence in the federal capital for not informing police while renting out his house under the tenancy law.

He was shifted to the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) police station after being kept at the Ramna police station of Islamabad for some time.

According to private TV channels, a son of Mr Siddiqui confirmed about his father’s arrest by the officials of Ramna police station, but there was no official word about it from any government circle.

Mr Siddiqui’s son said that the police did not inform them under what charges he had been taken into custody.

Many attempts were made to contact relevant government quarters and the officials concerned but no one was available for comment.

Later, a police source said Mr Siddiqui was arrested under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code for not informing the relevant police station about giving his house on rent.

Under this law, the deputy commissioner of Islamabad had directed all property owners to inform local police stations about the particulars of their tenants.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2019