FAISALABAD, Jan 24: A police party raided the dera (out-house) of opposition MPA Dr Asad Moazam and took him along with two of his gunmen to police station when the MPA refused to permit the police to search his vehicles and check weapons of his gunmen in Madina Town here on Monday.

A police party headed by Sub-Inspector Shamshad Ahmad of Elite Force raided the dera on Abid Shaheed Road, Madina Town, and asked him to present the licenses of weapons of his gunmen. The police team claimed that the MPA was providing shelter to outlaws.

The MPA and his supporters who were sitting there resisted the police and refused to allow them to search vehicles and the rooms of the dera. The MPA claimed that the policemen fired shots in the air to create harassment in the area and disgraced him by labelling him as a patron of outlaws.

The policemen took MPA Dr Moazam and two of his gunmen to People's Colony police station where they were questioned separately about their weapons and presence of outlaws in the dera.

On receiving the news of the arrest of the MPA, deputy opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Rana Sanaullah Khan, Punjab PPP secretary general MPA Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan, MPA Raja Riaz Ahmad, City PPP president Mahmoodul Hasan Dar and other PPP leaders rushed to the police station.

Senior police officials also rushed to the police station and held talks with the opposition leaders. The SP allowed the MPA and his gunmen to go home with the intervention of the political leaders.

When contacted, MPA Dr Moazam said he was misbehaved, taken to police station and harassed by the local police at the behest of People's Colony ASP for filing a writ petition in the Lahore High Court against the police about using stolen vehicles without proper permission.

He said the policemen who raided his dera not only disgraced him publicly but also fired shots in the air. An application against the raiding team members has been lodged with the DPO but no step has yet been taken. He demanded termination of police team members, including the sub-inspector, and a high level inquiry into the matter.