HYDERABAD/LAHORE: The former principal secretary to ex-Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi was picked up from Matiari on Monday night.

Currently serving as the secretary of the Punjab Assembly, Muhammad Khan Bhatti is wanted by the Fed­eral Invest­igation Agen­­cy (FIA) and the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establish­ment (ACE) in Rs460 million bribe and money laundering cases.

Matiari SSP Kaleem Malik and Hyderabad SSP Amjad Shaikh didn’t attend phone calls.

Reports said Bhatti along with four people, including a senior officer of Gujrat police, was on way to Karachi to seek protective bail from the Sindh High Court in cases lodged against him in Punjab.

Different teams of police were in the field in Matiari and Hyderabad district. When they were intercepted at Matiari bypass, the police officer and two other persons managed their escape.

Parvez Elahi termed the arrest “a case of open lawlessness in Sindh”. He warned the Sindh IGP that “such incidents would lead to hatred among the provinces” and hoped that CM Murad Ali Shah would take immediate notice of this lawlessness.

Parvez Elahi expressed the fear that Punjab Assembly secretary might be added to the list of ‘missing persons’ like his legal adviser Amir Saeed Rawn.

He said it was the fundam­ental and legal right of every Pakistani to approach a high court for protective bail but the way Bhatti was detai­ned was a cause of serious concern.

Meanwhile, the ACE raided the residence of Muhammad Khan Bhatti in Lahore and took away his laptop and other items. It also took his employee Nabil into custody.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2023