Islamabad: Fawad Chaudhry, a former federal minister and an ex-member of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, was arrested from his residence here and “taken to an unknown place” on Saturday, according to media reports.
“Chaudhry, who is currently a member of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party, was arrested on Saturday,” the Dawn newspaper reported quoting his wife, Hiba Fawad Chaudhary.
Hiba Fawad Chaudhary posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Fawad arrested and taken to unknown place (sic).” Chaudhary was a senior leader of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Geo News quoted her as saying that her husband was arrested by police and men in plainclothes and “we have not been told why Fawad is being arrested.” Earlier in January, Fawad was arrested from his residence after he publicly “threatened” the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a media talk outside Khan’s residence in Zaman Park. Later in June, Chaudhry issued an apology to the electoral watchdog for allegedly using “intemperate” language targeting the ECP and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja.
“It remains unclear why Fawad was arrested today, as he has been booked in several cases both before and after the May 9 riots which were triggered by the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan earlier this year in a graft case,” Geo News further said.
He was also amongst the thousands of party workers arrested during the crackdown after the May 9 riots.“Since being released from prison, following his re-arrest on May 10 outside the apex court, the politician kept a low profile and did not make any political statements,” Geo News said.
Chaudhry joined the Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party, which is headed by Khan’s close political aide Jahangir Tareen, in June this year.
Dawn also quoted his brother, Faisal Chaudhry, who alleged that the former federal minister was “kidnapped by a few uniformed officials accompanied by plain-clothed men while he was having breakfast at his Islamabad residence.” “Even after my repeated insistence, they did not present any arrest warrant or order. I have serious apprehensions about his safety,” Faisal was quoted as saying.
Fawad’s arrest comes a day after PTI leader Asad Qaiser was detained by police in a graft case, Dawn said.
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.