As the clock ticks on the crucial Punjab Assembly session, MPAs have reached the PA to attend the meeting previously scheduled to begin at 12:30pm. However, the session couldn't be started on time as the lawmakers were stopped from entering the premises.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened around the Assembly amid rising political tensions in Lahore on Sunday morning. PA Speaker Pervaiz Elahi called the session today, while cancelling the previous date of the assembly session scheduled for May 30.
The political situation intensified Sunday morning with the arrest of PA Director General for Parliamentary Affairs Rai Mumtaz after the announcement of an emergency session. The police has been directed to stay on high alert and a heavy police force has been deputed in the surroundings of the provincial assembly.
Police also barricaded different spots on Lahore's Mall Road, including the routes leading from CM House and Aiwan-e-Iqbal to the PA.
The administration has closed the doors of the PA, while barbed wires have been placed in front of the assembly building. Punjab Assembly staff said that even they are not allowed to enter the Assembly building.
Due to strict arrangements, even the security team of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz wasn't allowed to enter the assembly. Meanwhile, PML-N decided to send only 15 to 20 MPAs inside the PA in the first phase as soon as the gates open.
Sources said that the allied parties' members would take media representatives inside the building due to reports of presence of unauthorised individuals in the assembly.
Police detain PA parliamentary affairs DG
Punjab police arrested Punjab Assembly Director General for Parliamentary Affairs Rai Mumtaz in the wee hours of Sunday after a PA session was summoned ahead of the scheduled date.
Mumtaz's family alleged that the police raided their house and shifted him to an unknown location.
The Punjab Assembly spokesperson confirmed reports of Mumtaz's detention, saying that the police leaped the walls of the DG's house. He said that the houses of PA Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti and Coordination Secretary Inayatullah were also raided.
The spokesperson further stated that they also have video evidence of the raids on assembly official's residences. He also accused police of vandalism during the raids.
