Non-bailable arrest warrant issued for Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD: A judicial magistrate on Saturday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah over his non-appearance in an anti-corruption inquiry.

Special Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Akbar issued an arrest warrant for the interior minister in case number 19/20, said a spokesperson of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab.

He maintained that the arrest warrant was issued over Sanaullah's continuous non-appearance before the team probing the corruption case.

Meanwhile, the anti-corruption department has summoned former Punjab deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, Zahid Mazari and others on October 11 in a case pertaining to the illegal occupation of government land.

In the notice, Dost Muhammad Mazari has been directed to appear before the probe team at the ACE Lahore headquarters at 1pm on Thursday.

Assistant commissioner Rojhan, Tehsildar and the patwari have also been ordered to appear before ACE along with the concerned record.

A four-member team of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) tasked to arrest the interior minister returned empty-handed when the police authorities informed it that Sanaullah does not live in the jurisdiction of Kohsar Police Station.

In addition to this, the police officials noted that Faisalabad’s address was mentioned on the arrest warrant issued for the interior minister.

‘Look at the crime, whoever commits it is a criminal’: Abbasi

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”.

He added that his team is currently at the Kohsar Police Station.

“Let’s see if the police obey the court’s order or not,” Abbasi said, adding that Islamabad’s Inspector-General of Police has also been summoned. The advisor stressed that the crime should be considered, no matter who commits it.

“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.