Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the opposition presidential candidate, is raided by police in Quetta, Pakistan

An area of government-owned property that opposition presidential candidate and seasoned politician Mahmood Khan Achakzai had “illegally occupied” was taken back by officials in Balochistan ahead of the country’s presidential elections.

Achakzai, a 75-year-old Balochistani citizen, is the head of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP). Imran Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s imprisoned leader, nominated Achakzai to run against Asif Ali Zardari, the former president.

Authorities in Quetta said that they had raided Achakzai’s home on Sunday and taken back a portion of land that he had “illegally occupied” that belonged to the government.

Achakzai would have the backing of the Sunni Ittehad Council in Parliament, which is now the new home for the independent legislators endorsed by the PTI.

The seasoned politician will run against senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader Zardari, 68, on March 9 in the presidential election. Shahbaz Sharif’s coalition government has put Zardari’s name forward.

Media outlets, political groups, and human rights activists have all harshly denounced the raid, seeing it as the state apparatus’s response to Achakzai’s recent National Assembly address after Shehbaz’s election as prime minister.

According to Quetta Deputy Commissioner Saad Asad, the operation was organized because the PkMAP President had unlawfully taken possession of a 2.5 kanal (0.3 acre) plot of government property at his home.

“He had encircled the land with boundary walls and despite repeated warnings, he refused to vacate it,” Asad said.

According to Asad, the unlawfully inhabited land was retrieved by the police and tax employees.

“They were armed men who tried to obstruct us from doing our duty and have been detained,” he said.

According to Asad, an armed land guard was taken into custody as he tried to prevent the assistant commissioner from carrying out his responsibilities.

Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, the secretary general of PkMAP, denounced the raid that was directed at the party chairman and on Monday, he declared protests throughout the nation.

According to Ziaratwal, such incursions would not weaken the party’s steadfast stance against election tampering, and Achakzai would run for president on March 9.