‘Honey’ trap: Gandapur booked for liquor, weapons

ISLAMABAD: It appears that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Revenue, Ali Amin Gandapur, has gotten himself caught in a ‘honey trap’ as Islamabad Police are convinced that a bottle of liquor seized from his car is in fact a bottle of Scotland’s finest.

Gandapur was booked late on Sunday night for possessing liquor and openly displaying ‘unlicenced’ weapons. Police confiscated the items from the minister’s car outside PTI chairman Imran Khan’s residence on Sunday.

The provincial minister had arrived in a motorcade, along with 300-350 other PTI workers. When they reached Bani Gala, police blocked their path and said that the group was violating the ban on rallies and gatherings under Section 144. Officials then asked the PTI workers to disperse.

But when they refused, the police started arresting them. By the evening, the Bhara Kahu police, alone, had 120 people in their custody.

Meanwhile, Gandapur got out of his car and ran into the nearby jungle. Police said they found a man sitting in the K-P minister’s jeep with a teargas gun. The man was identified as Allah Nawaz, a resident of DI Khan. A further search of the car unearthed a bottle of liquor, a bulletproof vest, two submachine guns, ammunition and two number plates. Late on Sunday night, a case was registered against the minister at the Bhara Kahu police station.

PML-Q workers released

Eight Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q_ workers, arrested while trying to make their way to Bani Gala with a truck full of party flags and sticks, were released on bail on Monday.

Police said the workers were going on their way to the area when they were flagged down. They added that the activists had tried to resist police action. Officials further said that the truck had been sent by PML-Q leaders Pervaiz Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2016.