RAWALPINDI - A court in Rawalpindi on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for federal interior minister Rana Sanaullah Khan in a corruption case.
The court of Senior Civil Judge Ghulam Akbar passed the order stating that Sanaullah was nominated in an first information report (FIR) and his arrest “is necessary in the case, so non-bailable arrest warrants of the accused may be issued”. “Records reflect that contention of the investigating officer is genuine, hence, the same is accepted in the interest of justice and non-bailable arrest warrants of the accused namely Rana Sanaullah is issued accordingly,” the order stated.
This development was also confirmed by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab.
“The warrants have been issued because Sanaullah failed to appear in the anti-corruption inquiry despite being summoned several times
,” a spokesperson of the department told reporters in Lahore.
He added that orders were issued to arrest the minister and present him for the probe.
Elaborating on the charges against Sanaullah, the spokesperson said that the minister had been accused of purchasing two farmhouses at the Bismillah Housing Scheme in Kallar Kahar at a price lower than the scheduled rate. “Both the plots were given to Sanaullah’s wife as a bribe. “Akhlaq Ahmed, the owner of the society, has also been booked for bribing Sanaullah with a plot to get his society registered,” he said, adding that the opening ceremony of the project was attended by both the minister — who was in charge of the law ministry back then — and his wife.
‘A conspiracy to spread chaos;
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Saturday that arrest warrants of Rana Sanaullah were issued in Lahore as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan was afraid of him. In a tweet, she said that it was a conspiracy to spread chaos and anarchy in the country in order to divert attention from the corruption of “foreign agent, liar”, who was playing with national security and trying to hoodwink the people. The minister said that on the orders of Imran Khan, preparations were being made to invade the federation.