Elahi's close aide Muhammad Khan Bhatti arrested from Quetta.

QUETTA -- Former Punjab chief minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi's principal secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti has been arrested from Quetta, media reported on Thursday.

DG Anti-Corruption Punjab Sohail Zafar Chatta formed a four-member team following the arrest to bring the accused from Quetta to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) headquarters in Lahore.

Officials of the Punjab Anti-Corruption department claimed Bhatti was arrested while attempting to escape the country via the Balochistan-Iran border.

Bhatti, who was a close aide of the former Punjab chief minister, is accused of taking more than Rs460 million as bribe from officials of the Punjab Highway Department.

SDO Highway Police Rana Muhammad Iqbal has already been arrested on charges of bribery.

According to the FIR, Iqbal gave millions of rupees to the accused to get posts of his choice. "Several officials from the communications and construction departments were working for Muhammad Khan Bhatti," the FIR states.

Bhatti's name has also come up in an audio clip of an alleged telephone conversation between the Elahi and a lawyer in which the former chief minister is purportedly talking about fixing Bhatti's case before a sitting apex court judge.

Elahi has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that a 'wrong...

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