Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) worker Adnan Qureshi on Friday questioned the credibility of the PTI local leadership as he accused the party’s Lahore President Mahmood Rashid of being involved in a land grabbing scam and announced joining a dissident group named Awami Tehreek-e-Insaaf.
Qureshi told reporters that he had received life threats from Rashid through text messages from his paid assistants Irfan Ahmed, Farukh Habib and Hafiz Farhat, adding that Ahmed’s message asked him to leave Lahore. Qureshi said Rashid had sent emails to over 1,000 PTI members in which he had mentioned his involvement in an 18 canal land scam in Azizia Town, also known as Al-Hijaz Society.
A case against the PTI leader was under proceedings in the session court, he added. He said members of the Awami Tehreek-e-Insaaf believed in the leadership qualities of PTI chief Imran Khan but wanted to pinpoint corrupt individuals in the party. Rashid told Pakistan Today a forward bloc did not exist in PTI and denied Qureshi’s allegations. He said such accusations were no more than propaganda as opponents were afraid of the party’s increasing popularity. He said Rana and Awan had been expelled a year ago. Rashid said Qureshi was sick and under treatment, adding that Qureshi had been ousted from PTI some three years ago and had no connections with the party. Additional Information Secretary Umer Khan said Rana was once the additional general secretary but he had been expelled due to his upsetting activities.