LAHORE  -  Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Awa­mi Muslim League (AML) chief and close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-In­saf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, was arrested in Rawalpindi on Sun­day, his counsel Sardar Abdul Razaq claimed, however Rawalpindi po­lice rejected the claim and said he was not arrested “Rashid was taken into custody by men in plain clothes from a housing society in Rawalpin­di,” the lawyer added.

Rawalpindi police, through its twitter account, however denied that capital police had arrested Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. They said the AML head was not in their cus­tody as well. The tweet said Rawal­pindi police deny such accusations strongly. While sharing the details, the lawyer said that Rashid was tak­en into custody from a rented house in the housing society.

“His [Rashid] nephew was also ar­rested,” he added. No case was reg­istered against the AML chief in the limits of Punjab, his counsel also claimed, adding that Rashid was nominated in a case lodged at Kohsar police station in connec­tion with a protest rally held on May 10 by the PTI against the de­tention of Imran Khan — the former prime minister. “We do not know the whereabouts of Rashid so far. Ef­forts are being made to trace him,” his lawyer went on to say. In a vid­eo statement shared on the official X handle — formerly known as Twit­ter — of Sheikh Rashid, his neph­ew and former MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafique confirmed that the AML chief along with his brother, Sheikh Shakir, and a domestic help were taken into custody after Maghrib prayer by officials of Punjab police and plain-clothes men. In their writ­ten statements in Lahore and Islam­abad high courts, the police had al­ready admitted that Sheikh Rashid was not wanted by them in any case, Shafique added. “Sheikh Rashid con­demned the May 9 incidents from day one and I did so,” he added.