Supermodel Ayyan's bail plea dismissed

Court accepts custom’s request for further interrogating Ayyan about the source of cash and why it was being...

RAWALPINDI: A customs court in Rawalpindi rejected on Monday the bail plea of supermodel Ayyan who was arrested for reportedly smuggling $500,000 out of the country.

Customs officials detained Ayyan on Saturday for attempting to ship $500,000 out of the country through illegal means.

Read: Supermodel Ayyan sent to Adiala jail for 'smuggling' $500,000

Rejecting her plea, the court accepted custom’s  request for further interrogating Ayyan about the source of cash and why it was being smuggled out of the country.

The supermodel’s bail application was filed by her lawyer Khurram Latif Khosa at the court of Judge Mumtaz Hussan Chaudhry.

During the proceeding, Khosa argued that his client was not taking the money out of the country rather was waiting for someone at the airport to hand it over.

“My client acquired the sum on behalf of her brother who is in Dubai and sold his property here,” Khosa argued.

Khosa claimed the supermodel had a certificate and evidence about the cash and property sale but she was not given a chance by the Federal Investigation Agency and custom’s personnel to present it.

Read: Explainer: Why supermodel Ayyan was arrested

However, the public prosecutor replied that EK 651 was a Dubai-bound airline scheduled to fly at 3:30am.

“Besides, she never showed any evidence nor had any certificate,” the prosecutor said.

During the proceeding, Inspector Saleem of customs department requested the court to allow them to carry out a detailed interrogation of Ayyan to know where the money came from and why it was being smuggled out of the country. The court accepted the request.

“My daughter is a celebrity so the allegations against her are nothing but propaganda,” said Raja Hafeez, a person who appeared before the court claiming to be Ayyan’s father.

Further, Ayyan’s lawyer claimed the model was being ‘trapped.’

“It was her brother’s property who lives in Dubai and sold it. She just collected the money on his behalf and was supposed to hand it over to a person sent by her brother to the airport,” Khosa said, while speaking to The Express Tribune.

“The issue has been politicised and glamourised in the media,” he added.

Khosa said his client never proceeded to the immigration counter nor boarded the plane.

“She was just waiting at Rawal Lounge to hand over the money to the person,” he added.

He also said that property dealer Khalid Malik had nothing to do with the money.

“My client never mentioned Khalid’s name during my interview with her. Khalid has neither sold nor purchased anything and is not involved in the dealing,” he insisted.

“FIA staged a drama and has given it a political twist. The whole story is fabricated,” he claimed

He demanded that the FIA should produce his client’s ticket and produce the tags attached to passengers’ luggage at the airport.

However, a senior officer of custom’s legal branch, on condition of anonymity claimed that they produced all evidence before the court which was why her bail application was rejected.

“Where and how the money came from is not our concern. What we want to investigate is why the money was being smuggled out of the country,” the officer said.

Khalid Malik could not be reached for comments.

Ayyan is currently in Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand.