LAHORE: Mystery shrouds the ‘escape’ of Sohail Asghar Awan, the political secretary of PTI leader Moonis Elahi, from the custody of an anti-graft body which is described as ‘abduction’ by his (Awan’s) family.

The PTI smells a rat in the episode as it appears to be a ‘set pattern’ in which the close aides of PTI President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his son former federal minister Moonis Elahi had been picked up by ‘unknown persons’ allegedly for staying loyal to the party chief Imran Khan.

Before Mr Awan, at least five close aides of the father and son – former principal secretary to the chief minister Muhammad Khan Bhatti, Ahmad Faran Khan, Zagiam Gondal, advocate Amair Saaed Raan and Amjad Pervaiz Butt – had been picked up by ‘unknown persons’. Some of them were later handed over either to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) or the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to probe corruption charges against them.

Moonis’ friend Ahmad Faran Khan was allegedly subjected to ‘severe torture’ before he was presented before the court of law. Former prime minister Imran Khan had condemned the torture and said that the Elahi family and its associates were being harassed by the government and the powers that be through fake cases and other tactics for staying loyal to him.

According to Khan, Mr Elahi was told by the powers that be that ‘red line’ had been drawn around him (Imran Khan) and he (Elahi) should refrain from dissolving the Punjab Assembly. “Mr Elahi however dissolved the assembly on the request of Mr Khan and afterwards the elements in the power circle got active to teach him a lesson,” a source told Dawn on Wednesday.

Last week, the ACE and police had launched a major operation at Mr Elahi’s Lahore residence breaking its main gate through an armoured vehicle and allegedly harassed the family women to arrest him. Mr Elahi escaped the arrest and subsequently secured pre-arrest bail from the court.

The Elahi family alleges that Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi has been ‘super active’ in instituting fake cases against its members and associates for having a grudge against them.

On Wednesday, the ACE claimed that Moonis’ political secretary Sohail Asghar Awan escaped from its custody in Gujranwala.

It said Awan was being taken to the hospital at night after his condition deteriorated but he got a chance and escaped from custody.

It said the ACE and police teams had been formed to arrest him. “If any ACE official is found involved in the escape of the suspect, strict legal action will be taken against him,” it said.

The ACE alleged that Mr Awan was involved in a road corruption scam for awarding the project in Gujrat to his favourite contractor after taking bribes.

Mr Awan’s wife Faiza Sohail said in a statement that Mr Awan was abducted by some people who came in white cars. She said ACE Director General Sohail Zafar Chattha was also involved in her husband’s kidnapping. She said after finding nothing illegal against her husband and failure to present any evidence in court, they planned to abduct him. She urged the judiciary to take notice of this and order the release of her husband. Mr Awan’s family also held a demonstration against his ‘abduction’.

Moonis Elahi said in a tweet: “Unknown persons have now started picking up people from police custody. Sohail Asghar Awan was acquitted in every fake case but he would be implicated in another. Now when he would be handed back to the authorities more fake cases including the one related to his so-called escape would be registered against him.”

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2023