ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Thousands of people poured onto the roads on Saturday to register their protest against the alleged rigging in February 8 general elections while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Candidates Salman Akram Raja and Ali Ijaz Buttar among others have been arrested from Lahore.
Following the revealing of the Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Liaqat Ali Chatha about the large-scale rigging in recent elections, PTI has demanded an immediate resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.
The PTI said that the Commissioner’s admission of rigging the elections is an endorsement of its stance that the elections were stolen.
Meanwhile, the senior advocate and PTI Candidate from NA-128 Salman Akram Raja as well as PTI Candidate from NA-117 Ali Ijaz Buttar along with many others were arrested in Lahore while protesting against elections rigging.
سلمان اکرم راجہ لاہور سے گرفتار pic.twitter.com/0XfRhwEjRR
— Umar Daraz Gondal (@umardarazgondal) February 17, 2024
“بیٹے بری بات ہے، ایسے نہیں کرنا چاہیے آپکو”
لاہور میں پی ٹی آئی کی ایک بزرگ خاتون کے پنجاب پولیس کے ہاتھوں گرفتاری کے مناظر۔#Lahore #PTIProtest. pic.twitter.com/RBMwL3dR5O— Taaha Ahmed (@TaahaKhan01) February 17, 2024
Commenting on Salman Akram Raja’s arrest, the PTI termed it a slap on the face of the so-called democratic system.
Sources said that Salman Akram Raja has been shifted to some unknown location and handed over to some unknown people.
Arrest of @salmanAraja followed by the police keeping his family and friends in the dark regarding his whereabouts – is the plan to turn him into a “missing person” too ?
Condemnable … no one must be illegally arrested. Peaceful Protest is everyone’s right.— Nasim Zehra (@NasimZehra) February 17, 2024
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan has expressed deep concern and anguish over the statement issued to the media by the Commissioner Rawalpindi Division whereby he tried to involve the Chief Justice of Pakistan in the allegations of rigging in the general elections.
کمشنر راولپنڈی لیاقت علی چٹھہ نے بیان میں چیف جسٹس صاحب کے بڑے دفتر کا نام کیوں لیا ؟ اس کی مذمت کرتے ہیں الیکشن کمیشن دھاندلی الزامات کا جائزہ لے عدلیہ کا کوئی تعلق نہیں، سپریم کورٹ بار ایسوسی ایشن کا بیان pic.twitter.com/L7FCrZ52WL
— Aamir Saeed Abbasi (@AmirSaeedAbbasi) February 17, 2024
 Candidates Salman Akram Raja and Ali Ijaz Buttar among others have been arrested from Lahore.){kind=link}