Mansha 'Bomb' arrested from SC premises

Mansha termed the investigation against him political victimisation

ISLAMABAD: Police on Monday arrested suspected land grabber Malik Mansha Ali Khokhar, alias Mansha Bomb, from the Supreme Court premises.

The top court had rejected the bail plea of the accused who had gone to the court to ‘surrender’ himself to the authorities. The accused has now been shifted to the Secretariat Police Station.

Accused in land grabbing and other cases, Mansha had submitted a bail plea in the court.

On October 1, the top court had directed the interior ministry to place the names of Mansha and his sons on the Exit Control List (ECL).

A three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, had directed the authorities concerned to get all the land in possession of Mansha vacated. The bench was hearing a suo moto case.

Expressing displeasure over interference of elected representatives in police affairs, Justice Nisar had likened them to ‘thugs’. The top judge had said that all illegally occupied land in the province should be vacated.

Mansha, who was wanted by police in over 80 criminal cases in Lahore, had spent more than four to five hours in the Supreme Court premises in the hope of meeting the chief justice in person.

In a letter to the Supreme Court, Mansha wrote that suo motu proceedings had been initiated against him but he was unable to appear before the court on the day of hearing because he was unaware of the said proceedings.

Mansha added that he was living at different addresses then the one mentioned on his CNIC.

In his letter, Mansha had said that he had found out about the proceedings through the media, adding he was a "law-abiding citizen" who would never think of disobeying the court.

He added that he feared "discrimination" at the hands of the investigation agencies and request the court to provide him protection.

Earlier, while speaking to the media upon his arrival at the Supreme Court, Mansha said that Punjab police had added 'Bomb' to his name to malign him.

He termed the investigation against him political victimisation.

He said he had gone underground to escape police custody and to appear before the chief justice.

He added that he had come to the Supreme Court of his own accord so that he could surrender himself for arrest as per the law.

"I am a family man and I have not grabbed anyone's land," he said, denying being part of any land mafia. "I have inherited the properties."

An ATC had earlier issued arrest warrants for Mansha and his three sons in a case registered by Johar Town police on charges of attacking a team of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).

According to the FIR, Mansha and his sons Faisal, Tariq and Asim, were accused of attacking an LDA team during an anti-encroachment operation in Johar Town area.

The suspects neither appeared before the court nor joined police investigation.

On Oct 4, an investigating officer (IO) told the court that the suspects had gone underground since the Supreme Court ordered a crackdown on land grabbers in Johar Town.

The IO asked the court to issue warrants for the arrest of the suspects. The court accepted the request and issued warrants, directing the police to produce them on Oct 10.