Elahi was rearrested on Friday by the Islamabad police after the Lahore High Court ordered his release in an appeal filed against his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau.

Men in civil dress dragged Elahi out of the car and whisked him away into an Islamabad police vehicle. while he was en route to his house in Gulberg.

The court had also ordered that Elahi should not be arrested in any other case. On Saturday, Elahi’s wife filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court against the arrest, naming police officials as respondents.

The federal capital police said that the former CM of Punjab was arrested under 3MPO (Maintenance of Public Order). They added that he was being transported to a jail but did not name the prison.

Elahi challenged his arrest under 3MPO in the Islamabad High Court.

In his application, he pleaded with the IHC to declare his arrest void, while saying that he is facing political victimisation.

Reports said that Elahi was to be imprisoned in Adiala Jail for 15 days, however, in a late-night development he was moved to Attock Jail.

The PTI president was brought to the prison facility in high security while security was beefed up around the jail amid the presence of two high-profile prisoners.

Elahi underwent a medical examination at the jail soon after he was brought there. Doctors declared him medically fit.

Elahi’s son Moonis described his father’s re-arrest as “abduction”. He lamented the way court orders were “flouted” by the institutions.

Pervaiz declined to do a press conference when he was briefly released on Friday but said he was still standing with the PTI. “Did I spend four months inside for nothing?”