PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, now associated with the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party, was reportedly arrested on Saturday, confirmed by his wife Hiba Fawad in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). She mentioned, “Fawad [has been] arrested and taken to [an] unknown place.”
Further corroboration came from his brother, Faisal Chaudhry, who asserted to Dawn.com that the ex-federal minister was allegedly “kidnapped by uniformed officials accompanied by plainclothed men while having breakfast at his Islamabad residence.”
He added concerns about safety, stating, “Even after my repeated insistence, they did not present any arrest warrant or order. I have serious apprehensions about his safety.”
This incident involving Fawad happened a day following the detention of PTI leader Asad Qaiser by police in a graft case.
Fawad had distanced himself from PTI after a nationwide crackdown initiated post the May 9 riots following the arrest of PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Before departing from PTI, an attempt was made to detain him, seeking relief from the Islamabad High Court. Later, he joined the IPP, a party uniting PTI defectors, in June.
In July, a Lahore anti-terrorism court granted interim pre-arrest bail to the former information minister in two terror cases related to the May 9 riots. Nevertheless, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him and Imran in a case related to contempt of the electoral body and the chief election commissioner.
