Court maintains K-P CM arrest warrant

ISLAMABAD:

The District and Sessions Court of Islamabad on Tuesday adjourned the indictment of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in an audio leak case, maintaining his arrest warrant due to continued absence.

During the hearing, the court postponed Gandapur's indictment but ordered that his arrest warrant remain in effect.

The court directed the station house officer (SHO) to ensure compliance with the warrant.

Gandapur was absent from the proceedings once again, while his co-accused, Asad Farooq Khan, was present.

The court adjourned the case until June 10. The case against Gandapur and Asad Farooq Khan was registered at Golra Police Station.

Case background

A case was registered against Gandapur under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) at Golra police station.

According to sources, the audio of the PTI leader speaking about collecting weapons near Islamabad had also been made part of the case record and the police sought Gandapur's physical remand to recover arms.

The ex-minister was arrested by the police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's (K-P) Dera Ismail Khan in separate cases filed in Islamabad and Punjab.

He was taken into custody after he voluntarily surrendered to the police outside the Peshawar High Court, DI Khan bench, where he had gone to secure bail in cases registered against him on different charges, including terrorism.

The PTI leader claimed that the police were arresting him "illegally" and also carried out raids at his residence.

Special Assistant to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister for Information and PR, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, claimed that Gandapur in his alleged leaked audio was referring to "licensed arms and carrying licensed arms for one's safety is not a crime".

Then-Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had earlier released an audio clip allegedly featuring a conversation between Gandapur, then PTI's federal minister for Kashmir affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, and an unidentified individual, claiming it was evidence of a PTI plan to bring weapons and men to Islamabad to create chaos.

Provincial Action Plan

Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah chaired first high-level meeting on Provincial Action Plan at the Civil Secretariat Peshawar.

During the meeting, the Chief Secretary conducted a comprehensive review of the province's overall security dynamics, current challenges and progress on various departmental tasks. Key areas of discussion included counter-terrorism efforts, public trust in state institutions, deficiencies in government infrastructure and various strategies.

The forum also assessed monitoring mechanisms for curbing illegal activities such as hawala/hundi transactions, smuggling, narcotics trafficking, precursor chemical movement, explosive shipments, illegal firearms, cross-border arms trade and vehicle smuggling.

Proposals to strengthen the legal framework, improve forensic science facilities, introduce court-related interventions and expedite safe city projects were also reviewed.

Addressing the meeting, CS underscored the central role of public engagement in shaping effective government policies. app