Awami Muslim League (AML) supremo and an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday was arrested from his private residence in a housing society in Rawalpindi, Aaj News reported.

Rashid’s lawyer, Sardar Abdul Razzaq, has confirmed the arrest.

A video message was also shared from the official X (formerly Twitter) of Sheikh Rashid.

In the video, the AML chief’s nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq mentioned that along with Sheikh Rashid, his elder brother Sheikh Shakir and personal secretary Sheikh Imran were also arrested.

“Both the Islamabad and Punjab police have told the high courts in writing that Sheikh Rashid is not proclaimed in any case,” Shafiq said.

PTI condemned Rashid’s arrest in a post on X.

“The political victimisation and fascism continues, this time with the arrest of Sheikh Rashid,” it said.

Earlier in May, the former interior minister claimed that police had raided his house in Islamabad.

“This morning at 3 o’clock Rangers Islamabad Police and some 80-90 people dressed in civilian clothes broke the door and entered my house in F-7-4 Islamabad,” he tweeted then.

He further said that he had not present during the raid, but the officials beat his servant and broke his arm. The police had taken away his licensed weapons, CCTV footage of his house, and both of his cars, Rashid said then.

At that time, the former minister had skipped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appearance in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case against former prime minister Imran Khan.

The anti-graft body earlier had summoned Rashid on May 24, but he did not appear before the NAB’s Joint Investigation Team (JIT), and he informed the NAB through his counsel that he had not received the NAB summon.

Later, the bureau re-summoned the AML chief to appear before it along with relevant record but he again skipped his appearance by informing the NAB that he had no information and evidence with regard to Al-Qadir Trust.