LAHORE, June 28: The authorities on Saturday evening arrested Hamza Shahbaz and Ilyas Meraj, elder son and brother-in-law, respectively, of PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, after the wife and two daughters of the former Punjab chief minister evaded the police’s attempts to recover them from the Model Town residence of the Mr Shahbaz’s father-in-law, where they had been staying.

Their deportation was scheduled for Saturday.

Later, Hamza Shahbaz and Ilyas Meraj were released several hours after detention.

At one time, the police posted at the Model Town residence became extra alert and it seemed that they had come close to escorting the three women to the airport.

The entrance of Mian Meraj Din’s bungalow opened several times, alerting journalists and photographers, anxious to interview and photograph the women before their deportation but they were disappointed, as every time it was some official who had entered or left the premises.

Officials, without naming anyone in particular, accused relatives of having shifted the three women to an unknown place. They claimed that the family had failed to secure any relief from the Lahore High Court, sending signals that sooner or later they would be produced.

“Once their whereabouts are known, they would be deported to Saudi Arabia without delay”, sources told Dawn.

Hamza Shahbaz expressed his determination to resist attempt to deport his mother and sisters.

Earlier in the morning, PML-N legislators and party activists reached Model Town park in front of Mian Meraj Din’s bungalow, early in the morning to express their solidarity with the Sharif family. They raised slogans in favour of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif in addition to chants against President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz and daughters Rabia and Javeria have come to Pakistan for the second time after being banished in December 2000.

They were first allowed to come back a few months after their banishment but were asked to leave the country after a section of the press attributed some statements to the former Punjab chief minister’s spouse.

This time, they were allowed to return in connection with marriages of Javeria and Rabia.

Meanwhile, Mian Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday directed Rana Sanaullah Khan that he should keep leaders of other parties informed about what the government was doing with the Sharif family.