Sanaullah vows to ‘present Imran before courts’

Interior minister says government will provide all resources to uproot terrorism

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that former prime minister Imran Khan will have to appear before the court for the next hearings, otherwise “he will be presented there”.

Addressing a news conference on Monday, the interior minister flayed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief for avoiding hearings.

He said that things were clear against him, and he would have to appear before the court to face trial.

He also said that the PTI leaders dramatised the situation when the Islamabad police team reached Lahore to arrest the former prime minister.

"If Imran Khan obeys the law so much, he should appear before the court as per orders," he added.

The minister said that the verdict of the court about Imran would be accepted and implemented in case he was acquitted or awarded punishment.

He said that Imran, along with a property tycoon, looted Rs50 billion of the national treasury, and got the Al-Qadir Trust registered on 450-kanal. He added that Imran and his spouse were the trustees of this trust while both of them also “minted money” through their “front lady Farah Gogi”.

Regarding the law and order situation, Sanaullah said that the government would provide all resources to the provinces for maintaining law and order and rooting out the menace of terrorism through effective measures.

There would be no cut in the resources of provincial governments and all requirements of law enforcement agencies would be fulfilled, he added.

"Though the economic condition is very tough and austerity measures are being taken but the government will not compromise on needs of the law enforcement agencies and all resources will be provided to them as per directions of the prime minister," he maintained.

During the meeting of the apex committee, he said, the federal government had assured of providing all resources to the provinces for maintaining the law and order situation.

The minister said that the entire nation was standing with the brave and courageous law enforcers who were sacrificing their lives to eliminate terrorism.

Sanaullah said that one civilian and eight personnel of the Balochistan Constabulary were martyred and 13 others were wounded in a suicide blast in Bolan. He said that the constabulary van was on its way back to Quetta from Sibi when an explosion occurred on the Kumbri bridge in the area bordering the Sibi and Kachhi borders.

The minister said that a suicide bomber riding a motorbike rammed into the police van. He said that the wounded personnel had been shifted to hospitals through a helicopter and every possible treatment was being provided to them.

Regarding the comments of Maulana Fazlur Rehman about the postponement of elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) amid security concerns, the minister said that his opinion regarding the postponement of the polls was valuable. However, he added, the decision to hold the elections was not of the government but of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He disclosed that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would hold a meeting to discuss this matter as it seemed difficult to run the election campaign in the current situation.

To a question, the minister said that the PTI's inapt government ruined the national economy during its three-and-a-half-year tenure and it violated the agreements with the International Monetary Fund.

To another question, he said that Nawaz Sharif criticised their opponents in the past but in a decent way as he did not believe in misbehaving with others.

To a query about the police torture of journalists, the minister said that an inquiry report would be presented in court and the decision of the court will be respected.