The Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished a portion of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Central Secretariat in the federal capital due to a "violation of building rules," prompting harsh criticism from the party.
According to a statement, the CDA's anti-encroachment team conducted an operation late Thursday to eradicate unlawful building and encroachment. The process began at about 11:30 p.m. and finished after an hour.
It further stated that a "political party" was trying to invade and that the plot was allocated to a person by the name of Sartaj Ali.
According to the CDA, an extra storey was erected on the land in breach of building regulations. The authority also stated that it had sent warnings to the party, but to no avail.
As the operation began, the PTI instructed that workers go to the secretariat immediately. The party said that the government had begun dismantling the office in an "illegal and unjust manner."
While the authority claimed to have given many letters to the erstwhile ruling party, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan denied the allegations and stated that they had not received any directions from the CDA.
He further stated that CDA officials were asked to provide documents about the operation, but they failed to do so. "If there had been any encroachments and they had informed us about them earlier, we would have removed them ourselves," he added.
PTI Secretary-General Omar Ayub spoke to the media outside the office and severely denounced the late-night move, stating that the party will take up the CDA matter in parliament.
Following the operation, CDA personnel locked the PTI's central office and pasted the order on it.
During this time, PTI activists protested the government's efforts to raze the office, prompting the arrest of certain party members by police.