ISLAMABAD   -  Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Omar Ayub Khan’s house in Islamabad was Sunday raided by Mianwali police in collaboration with the local police.

The raid, however, did not result in an arrest of the PTI leader as he was not present at his residence. The police targeted Omar Ayub’s F-10 residence in the federal capital as part of an ongoing investigation. Ayub was wanted in connection with an anti-terrorism case as an anti-terrorism court in Sargodha issued warrants for his arrest.

The PTI leader confirmed the raid, stating, Islamabad and Mianwali police raided his house. “The ATC Sargodha has issued bailable arrest warrants against me.” He said that the federal and provincial government agencies were attempting to arrest the opposition leader. “Let me make it clear, our struggle will continue until the founder of PTI is released and becomes the prime minister,” Ayub said further.

Last month, Ayub resigned from the position of PTI secretary general but in a later development, Imran Khan declined to accept Ayub’s resignation. Amid reports of internal rifts and confusion within the PTI, Ayub’s resignation added to the uncertainty. The Opposition Leader, in a statement on X, confirmed that the warrants had been issued, and slammed the “desperate” authorities for trying to nab him.

Slamming the authorities further, Ayub said they will prove beyond doubt that there was no rule of law in the country and vowed that the party would continue struggle until PTI founder Imran Khan comes back into power.

The top PTI leader, whose party has recently rejected his resignation from the top office added: “The form 47 Federal Government, Punjab Government, and agencies must be very desperate to arrest the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.”

The PTI’s top brass has been embroiled in legal battles since the party’s ouster from the government in April 2022 as they held back-to-back anti-government protests across the country.

But the situation turned worse when the party’s workers ransacked and attacked state installations on May 9, when the party founder was arrested in a graft case, leading to the arrest of several leaders and workers, while others left the party.

Although PTI claims that the cases against its workers and leaders are “baseless” and those in power want to “victimise” them, the government has maintained that it is not involved in political victimisation.