Sanaullah demands judicial probe into drug case against him

Minister says ANF is an independent and credible institution, with 90% success rate

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah on Friday lashed out at the government for “falsely” accusing him in a drugs case and demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigation the case filed against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly after spending six months in detention, Sanaullah challenged the ANF to bring the “evidence against him” to the fore. He maintained that no individual in Pakistan was safe under the current circumstances.

Sanaullah was arrested by the ANF on July 1 from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway. The ANF claimed to have recovered 15 kilogrammes of heroin and other drugs from his possession during an operation conducted on a tip-off.

At least other five people, including Sanaullah’s driver and the security guards, were also arrested. Since then, Sanaullah remained behind bars. He was released last month after the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted him bail.

In the National Assembly, Sanaullah swore on holy Quran that “a false case was concocted” against him. “I am ready to present myself for investigation at every forum,” he said, demanding a judicial inquiry into the allegations against him.

Sanaullah demands judicial commission to probe allegations against him

“The ANF did not investigate him in the case and just presented the challan [charge-sheet] in the court,” the PML-N Punjab president said. “No video of his arrest or investigation was produced,” he added.

He said in the FIR registered by ANF it was mentioned that he was part of a network which smuggled drugs from Afghanistan to Faisalabad and then from Lahore to different parts of the world but no member of the network was arrested.

“I am in politics for 30 years, have remained member of the provincial [Punjab] assembly five times and served as Punjab home minister for 10 years. In that period I never used my influence for any person involved in peddling of drugs,” he said.

Responding to Sanaullah’s remarks, Communications Minister Murad Saeed said the ANF was an independent and credible institution, which had 90% success rate in narcotics cases. He regretted that the force was being targeted after the bail granted to Sanaullah.

He stressed that the government believed in economic and social justice and would continue to act against corruption and malpractices. He added the Narcotics Control Minister Shehryar Afridi would give the viewpoint of the government on Sanaullah’s case in the next session.

The minister recalled that the first case against Sanaullah was filed by the family of Nawaz Sharif, adding the father of Abid Sher Ali had alleged that Sanaullah was involved in killing of people. He alsi accused Sanaullah of being involved in the Model Town killings case.
Speaking about the ANF, Saeed said that ANF had stated that it recovered a bag filled with heroin from Rana Sanaullah. The ANF had its own point of view on the case of recovery of heroin from Sanaullah, he added.