ETPB seals Sheikh Rashid’s Lal Haveli residence

• Former interior minister’s residence sealed over "invalid" documents.
• Order to vacate Lal Haveli issued by the ETPB chairman: official.
• Rashid's nephew announces moving LHC against sealing of property. 

RAWALPINDI: The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) on Thursday sealed Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s Lal Haveli residence in Rawalpindi.

Speaking to the media ETPB deputy administrator Asif Khan said the former interior minister’s residence has been completely sealed as the documents submitted by Rashid were not valid.

The decision to vacate Lal Haveli was issued by the ETPB chairman, said the deputy administrator.

The ETPB conducted the operation to evict the occupants early in the morning in the presence of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and a heavy police contingent.

In a video statement, the APML chief nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq said Lal Haveli was registered in the name of Sheikh Siddique in 1988.

He said all records of the property have been submitted to the deputy commissioner Rawalpindi.

“We had also submitted our response in Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench,” Shafiq said, adding that they will move the high court tomorrow against the ETPB move to seal their property.

“Today is the dark night of cruelty, efforts are being made to arrest me too,” he added.

Following the operation, ETPB took control of the Lal Haveli and deployed its security outside the residence.

Earlier this year, the Lal Haveli was sealed by the EPB only to be de-sealed immediately on the orders of LHC Rawalpindi Bench.

Rashid had stated back then that the ETPB officials were “misusing their powers under the orders of political high-ups”.

The development came days after Rashid, close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, was arrested in Rawalpindi, his counsel Sardar Abdul Razaq had claimed.

“Rashid was taken into custody by men in plain clothes from a housing society in Rawalpindi,” the lawyer added.

While sharing the details, the lawyer said that Rashid was taken into custody from a rented house in the housing society.

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.