Security officials of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) escort arrested senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Rana Sanaullah to court in Lahore on July 2, 2019. PHOTO: AFP
During the proceedings, Judicial Magistrate Ahmed Waqas accepted the ANF’s request and sent PML-N Punjab President Sanaullah and five others accused in the case – Muhammad Akram, Sibtain Haider, Usman Ahmed, Asim Rustam and Umar Farooq – to jail. He ordered the ANF to submit the challan on July 16.
The ANF did not request for a physical remand of the accused.
Judge Waqas directed the Camp Jail superintendent to conduct Sanaullah's medical examination after his counsel, Azam Nazir Tarar, informed the court that his client was a heart patient as well as a diabetic. The judge also allowed Sanaullah to have diet meals on his counsel's request.
Tarar termed the arrest of Sanaullah a "drama" and an act of "political victimisation" merely to humiliate the PML-N leader. He submitted that a fictitious story was created to trap him. He contended that his client was subjected to political victimisation because he had been speaking against the rulers.
He said Sanaullah was intercepted at Sukheki and was then taken to the ANF's headquarters. All that exercise, the counsel said, was plotted by his political rivals merely to humiliate and embarrass him in the public eye.
In his first brief chat after his arrest, Sanaullah described his arrest by the ANF over drugs possession as "an act of cruelty" and claimed that the government of "cruel rulers" would not last for long.
Lambasting Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said Imran should be ashamed of his claims. "Is this Riasat-e-Madina," he asked. "Time will tell, who is right and who is wrong."
Sanaullah was brought to the court by the ANF officials for a remand hearing. A small number of party workers were also present at the court to express their support. A thin attendance of the party workers and leaders raised eyebrows, as messages were conveyed to the PML-N lawmakers at night to reach the district court to express solidarity with Sanaullah.
The courtroom echoed with slogans of "Shair, Shair" by PML-N lawyers, when Sanaullah arrived, escorted by the ANF officials. The police blocked the Islamia College Road and the main Ferozpur Road, placing barricades, barbed wire and containers. Heavy police contingents were deployed on roads and court premises to avoid any untoward incident and to restrain party workers from entering the court.
The PML-N lawyers also used crude language against the top leadership of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Sanaullah was greeted by his son-in-law Sheharyar.
Outside the court, a small number of workers also chanted slogans against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership. Among those present during the hearing were senior PML-N lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly Samiullah Khan, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and others.
PML-N president lashes out
PML-N President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has said Imran Khan had Sanaullah arrested to divert the attention of the nation away from the fatal budget.
Talking to the media after a meeting of the PML-N advisory group, Shehbaz said, “The person who made up this story about 15kg of narcotics in Sanaullah’s vehicle is Imran.”
After establishing himself as the undisputed king of U-turns and a pathological liar, Imran has now become the champion of horse trading. “A meeting of the APC ‘Rehbar Committee’ will be called soon. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal have been nominated for it.”
Shehbaz said Sanaullah had worked with him as the Punjab law minister for an entire decade and was an avid advocate of democracy and democratic values. Sanaullah had launched a number of anti-narcotic drives under his own watch but “it is unfortunate that this ridiculous accusation has been levelled against him in political vengeance”.
Condemning Sanaullah’s arrest, he said this so-called prime minister is maligning national institutions by using them for his political victimisation and to divert the attention of the nation from the evils of the catastrophic budget.
PML-N central leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi alleged that no narcotics were recovered from Sanaullah’s possession when he was stopped by a team of the ANF, but were furbished in his vehicle after he was brought to the ANF headquarters.
Abbasi said the FIR registered against Sanaullah was the most ridiculous story ever told in which at first the total narcotics recovered weighed 21kg and after a while they turned out to be 15kg. He also said that it was mindboggling to think that narcotics were being smuggled from Faisalabad to Lahore which “makes no sense at all”.
He said Sanaullah was stopped by the ANF staff at the Ravi Bridge on his way from Faisalabad to Lahore. Two ANF officials searched the car, found nothing and told Sanaullah to accompany them to the nearest station. “This is the most implausible tale ever built to divert the attention away from the fatal PTI budget,” said Abbasi, adding that such vicious acts of filing false narcotics cases against politicians in political victimisation was not practiced in the most tyrannical dictatorships.
He urged PTI to check its actions before it was too late for them.
The FIR
According to the FIR registered by Anti-Narcotics Force deputy director operations on July 1, 2019 (Monday) under sections 186, 189, and 353 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and sections 15, 17 of 9C of the CNSA 1997, the ANF received information that Sanaullah was involved in drug smuggling and was taking heroin to Lahore.
The ANF arranged a raiding team comprising 21 officials. They reached the Ravi Toll Plaza motorway and intercepted two vehicles, a white Toyota Land Cruiser and a black double-cabin vehicle.
When Sanaullah was asked about the drugs, he admitted that there was heroin in a blue suitcase behind his seat, according to the FIR. It added that Sanaullah's guards attempted to rescue him but failed. The police recovered 15kg of heroin, guns, pistols and bullets from their possession and took them to the ANF's headquarters.
The ANF sources told The Express Tribune that the tip-off about Sanaullah was provided to the force two months ago, and the officials concerned worked day and night to firm up the lead, which led to the arrest on Monday.
The sources rejected the impression that the former Punjab law minister was arrested in an overnight action. They said that after the information, the movements of Sanaullah were under observation. They also said that the drugs recovered from Sanaullah were meant to be smuggled abroad.
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