Daily Times

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Friday denied that former police encounter specialist Abid Boxer was in its custody.

The clarification came from Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan while responding to a point of order raised by Leader of the Opposition Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed during Friday’s session.

On a point of order, the opposition leader said that news about the arrest of former Punjab Police inspector Abid Boxer through Interpol had been circulating in the media for the past two weeks. He asked the government whether Abid Boxer who had confessed to fake encounters and extra judicial murders on behest of some political personalities had been arrested or not.

Responding to the question, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that his government had not been informed by the Interpol about any such arrest. “If Interpol arrests him and then hands him over to us, he will be presented before a court of law,” he said.

The Law minister also confirmed that the Punjab government had earlier requested the federal government to issue red warrants for the arrest of Abid Boxer from abroad as he was a court absconder. The warrants were then issued, he said.

The Punjab Assembly session on Friday started 45 minutes late from its scheduled time at 9am. It was chaired by Speaker Rana Iqbal. The House adopted the Question Hour about the Local Government and Community Development Department and Parliamentary Secretary Ramzan Sadique Bhatti answered questions about his colleagues.

Mostly the legislators highlighted the issue of encroachments in the city of Lahore. They said the encroachments even existed in the vicinity of the Punjab Assembly building and created problems for the flow of traffic. Parliamentarians remained stuck in traffic, they said. Later, the House adopted the government business on the agenda of the day. The Law minister laid the Sialkot University Bill and Narowal University Bill that were referred to the standing committee. Meanwhile, opposition member Asif Mehmood pointed out the quorum and the speaker adjourned the session till Monday.

Interestingly, there were some other bills, including the Land Revenue Punjab Bill, and the Parks and Horticulture Authority Bill that were also on the agenda. However, they were left pending due to a lack of interest by treasury legislators in the assembly proceedings.

Published in Daily Times, February 17^th 2018.