Ephedrine quota case: ANF fails to find evidence against ex-PM Gilani

ANF mentions former premier twice in new charge sheet.

RAWALPINDI:

The investigators may have been over-ambitious.

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) team investigating the ephedrine quota case has included the name of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the new charge-sheet, but has yet to find any concrete evidence of his involvement, sources say.

Sources say the team commander, Brigadier Fahim, and investigating officer SP Abid Zulfiqar spent 10 days reviewing the files containing minutes and other details of meetings chaired by the former premier, especially those held to discuss the issues relating to the ministry of health, but have failed to find any concrete evidence against Gilani.

The first three charge sheets did not mention the former premier but the fourth one names Gilani twice. It says that former provincial assembly lawmaker, Dr Javed Siddique, got direct approval from the former premier for 1,000 kg of the illegal chemical.

The new charge sheet also establishes a direct connection between the former prime minister and Touqeer Ali Khan, the alleged front man for Gilan’s son, Ali Musa.

Earlier, Daily Express had acquired a copy of the new charge sheet and Director Legal ANF Col (retd) Akhtar Abbas had said that the ANF team had enough proof about Gilani’s involvement from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretariat.

On Saturday, however, he objected to the news story about Gilani’s involvement in the case.

When Abbas was informed that Daily Express has a copy of the new charge sheet that mentions the former premier, he said that he should be contacted before release of any news about the ephedrine case.  The first hearing on the new charge sheet will be held on October 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.