Daily Times

A special judicial magistrate on Saturday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, being seen as a tit-for-tat move by the Punjab government after two PTI leaders were taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The order was passed by the court of Senior Civil Judge Ghulam Akbar.

It states that Sanaullah was nominated in a 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. A spokesperson of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab said that it issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the PML-N leader after he failed to appear in an inquiry. Special Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Akbar issued an arrest warrant for the interior minister in case number 19/20, said the ACE spokesperson.A TV channel reported that a four-member anti-corruption team reached the Kohsar police station for arrest of the interior minister. According to the reports, the Islamabad Police sent back the anti-corruption team as the PML-N leader’s residence was not within the limits of the Kohsar police station and his address on the arrest warrant was that of Faisalabad.Meanwhile, the ACE has also summoned former deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari for the alleged encroachment of land owned by the government. The ACE spokesperson said that the anti-graft watchdog also called Zahid Mazari, Sher Muhammad Mazari and Moazzam Mazari. They have been summoned to the Lahore headquarters on October 11. Dost Mazari has been asked to appear at the ACE office at 1pm. The spokesperson added that the assistant commissioners of Rojhan, Tehsildar and Patwari have also been summoned with records.

Musaddiq Abbasi, the advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi on anti-corruption, said that Rana Sanaullah has been found guilty in the corruption case against him. Speaking during his media talk at Punjab’s Directorate-General Public Relations, Abbasi said that the interior minister was accused of taking bribes in the form of plots and he was summoned by ACE in October.

According to the advisor, Sanaullah did not show up despite being summoned, which is why his team has the “right to arrest the criminal in any position”. “This is not a political case, Sanaullah’s crime has been proven,” Abbasi remarked, adding that the PML-N minister registered the plots in the case for Rs900,000.

“The housing society was inaugurated in 2017, while it received permission in 2018. Sanaullah was given two plots in the society as a bribe,” Abbasi revealed, adding that the FIR against the interior minister was registered in 2019, while he submitted his letter of acknowledgement in 2022. “The letter of acknowledgement stated that what was written in 2018’s registry was incorrect. Rana Sanaullah wrote his property has been frozen by the Anti-Narcotics Force,” he shared, further revealing that the interior minister mentioned plans of construction on the property.