KARACHI:
On Saturday, a special court in Lahore acquitted Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in a narcotics case filed against him in July 2019. He was arrested in July 2019 under the former government by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). It had claimed to have recovered 15kg of heroin from his vehicle. However, during the hearing, the ANF Assistant Director and Inspector dismissed the charges and declared them “wrong”.
The Lahore court has done justice by ending the fake case against a politician, but this has raised concerns over the role of ANF. In 2019, the ANF submitted a challan claiming that Rana Sanaullah admitted that he was involved in transporting and smuggling narcotics to support his political career. However, the sudden u-turn has left people questioning the inner workings of ANF and many fear that the bureau may be making fake cases or being exploited by individuals for political gains.
Perhaps, the government should entirely reform the ANF and ensure that the bureau thoroughly investigates all cases. We cannot have dubious organisations operating in the country as it sets a poor precedent and poses a great risk to the safety and well-being of all citizens.
Shahryar Khan Baseer
Peshawar
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2022.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
