RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Chief Minister Punjab Pervaiz Elahi was brought from Adiala Jail to Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) on Wednesday for a thallium scan as suggested by the doctors last month.

A senior doctor of RIC told Dawn that the health condition of the patient was better, so he was brought back to Adiala jail after getting a pathological examination and a thallium scan.

He added that the former chief minister was brought to the hospital on Dec 22 with chest pain, and his electrocardiogram (ECG) was not normal.

Upon this, doctors had suggested conducting a cardiolite scan or thallium scan to see how much blood was reaching his heart but Mr Elahi had refused to conduct the test without the consent of his family members and family physician.

However, the doctor told that now he had agreed, and the test was conducted. The report will be ready in a day or two, he added.

After the test, Pervaiz Elahi was taken back to Adiala jail under tight security.

The PTI leader has remained in jail following the violent riots on May 9 by PTI workers.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference of over Rs 1 billion against Pervaiz Elahi, his son Moonis Elahi, and others.

The NAB alleged that both had plundered the national treasury and received kickbacks, because of which he was arrested in August.

The senior PTI leader was initially arrested on June 1 in an Rs70 million graft case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district and has been behind bars since then.

He was released several times in between, only to be re-arrested immediately in different cases, including a money laundering case and allegations of illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024