Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja was reportedly detained by law enforcement officials within the jurisdiction of Nilore Police Station before being subsequently released, triggering sharply conflicting claims between opposition leaders and local police authorities. According to the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aiyen-e-Pakistan (Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP)), Raja was intercepted and taken into custody while returning from Kotli Sattian, where he had attended a funeral.
Confirming the incident, Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) Spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai stated that the arrest took place within Nilore's territorial limits. A spokesperson for PTI later confirmed that the secretary general had been released following what the party characterised as a period of illegal detention. In a message shared on X, Raja confirmed that he, alongside associates and friends, had been set free. He alleged that authorities carried out the detentions out of fear of public mobilisation, claimed that fundamental human rights had been compromised, and expressed gratitude to supporters for their solidarity.
Calling for Raja's swift release earlier, Barrister Gohar Khan condemned what he described as an ongoing, illegal crackdown against the party, claiming that approximately 700 PTI workers had been arrested in recent days alongside arrest warrants issued for national and provincial lawmakers. A police spokesperson, however, categorically denied taking the opposition leader into custody, stating that no PTI leaders have been arrested in connection with any case in the region.
Meanwhile, PTI stated that it is highly condemnable that party leaders, including Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, were detained against the law. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in his reaction that detaining leaders and associates for several hours to prevent them from attending a funeral is a deeply regrettable act. By detaining Raja and other leaders without justification, he charged, the rulers have demonstrated just how fearful they are of the public's voice and political activists, making it clear that such fear-driven actions can neither eliminate political dissent nor suppress the democratic rights of the people.