The Lahore deputy commissioner (DC) has issued a 30-day detention order for PTI President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), it emerged on Monday.
The order, which was issued late last night, stated that Elahi would be held at Lahore’s Camp Jail, where he has been incarcerated since last month. It came after Lahore police submitted a written request for Elahi’s detention for allegedly disturbing the peace in connection with three cases.
The PTI president, who is also the former chief minister of Punjab, was first arrested on June 1 in connection with a corruption case. He was discharged in said case the very next day, only to be arrested in another.
On Saturday, a banking crimes court had issued orders for Elahi’s release from Lahore’s Camp Jail in a money laundering case. However, he was not set free as police said a case has been registered against him at the Ghalib Market police station under terrorism provisions.
The detention order issued by Lahore DC Rafia Haider, dated July 16 and a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that Lahore police had reported that Elahi was “an active member and firebrand speaker” of the PTI.
It further said that the superintendent (SP) of the Model Town division and the district intelligence branch had also reported that an “activist” like Elahi would “create a situation of unrest and disturbance”. It said that the PTI president had the “potential to disrupt the public peace and tranquility and to provoke people illegally for taking [the] law into [their] hands”.
In the order, the Lahore DC said, “There is a genuine concern that not only he but also his followers have the potential of damaging both public and private properties and may create road blockage situation.”
It said that police had received “credible information indicating that if individual in question is left free, [he] can potentially worsen the law and order along with his accomplices, which can end up in replicating the May 9 mayhem”.
The order also listed the first information reports filed against Elahi at various police stations in Lahore and termed him a “criminal record holder”.
Citing the investigation in the cases, the detention order stated that it has been categorically established that Elahi “perpetrated acts of resistance, arson and terrorist attack on law enforcement agencies through his accomplices”.
It further said that the members of the District Intelligence Committee “endorsed the evidence/material provided by the police department and unanimously recommended” that Elahi’s detention orders should be issued.
In the order, DC Haider asserted that she is convinced that the PTI president’s presence “at any public space will pose grave threat to the public safety and it is likely to cause breach of public peace and public order”.
Subsequently, the Lahore DC ordered for Elahi to be arrested and detained for 30 days at the city’s Camp Jail.
