Daily Times

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the leader of the Awami Muslim League (AML), had his Lal Haveli residence in Rawalpindi sealed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) on Thursday.

The former interior minister’s home has been completely sealed, according to ETPB deputy administrator Asif Khan, who was speaking to the media. This is because Rashid’s documents were invalid.

The deputy administrator stated that the ETPB chairman made the decision to vacate Lal Haveli.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and a sizable police contingent were present when the ETPB carried out the operation to evict the residents early in the morning.

Lal Haveli was registered in 1988 under Sheikh Siddique’s name, according to a video statement from the APML leader’s nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq.

He claimed that the deputy commissioner in Rawalpindi had received a copy of every record pertaining to the property.

“We had also submitted our response in Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench,” Shafiq said, adding that they will move the high court tomorrow against the ETPB move to seal their property.

“Today is the dark night of cruelty, efforts are being made to arrest me too,” he added.

After the operation, ETPB seized control of the Lal Haveli and set up its security perimeter around the home.

The Lal Haveli was sealed by the EPB earlier this year only to be immediately un-sealed on the directives of the LHC Rawalpindi Bench.

Rashid had alleged that the ETPB officials were “misusing their powers under the orders of political high-ups” at the time.

The news came days after Rashid, a trusted adviser to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, was allegedly detained in Rawalpindi, according to his lawyer Sardar Abdul Razaq.

“Rashid was taken into custody by men in plain clothes from a housing society in Rawalpindi,” the lawyer added.

The attorney revealed the specifics, stating that Rashid was detained from a rented residence in the housing society.

Rashid was named in a case filed at Kohsar police station in connection with a protest rally held on May 10 by the PTI against the detention of former prime minister Imran Khan, according to his attorney, who also asserted that no case had been filed against the AML chief within the borders of Punjab.