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Summary Judge Shafqatullah Khan of a special ANF court in Rawalpindi issued arrest warrants.
A special court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for PPP’s prime-ministerial candidate Makhdoom Shahabuddin in connection with alleged irregularities in the import of a large amount of the controlled drug Ephedrine during his tenure as health minister.Acting on a request from the Anti-Narcotics Force, Judge Shafqatullah Khan of a special ANF court in Rawalpindi issued arrest warrants for Shahabuddin and Ali Musa Gilani .The judge directed officials to arrest and present them in his court within a week.During the hearing, ANF officials submitted a report that said they had evidence proving the alleged involvement of Shahabuddin and Ali Musa Gilani in the scam.The arrest warrants were issued at about the same time that Shahabuddin was filing his nomination papers for the election of the new premier by the National Assembly.Shahabuddinm, however, averted questions from the media about the arrest warrant.The Supreme Court is examining allegations about out-of-turn quotas for importing Ephedrine that were granted to two pharmaceutical companies by the Health Ministry, allegedly under the influence of Ali Musa Gilani.Ali Musa recently cut short his honeymoon in South Africa and returned to Pakistan after being named as an accused in the case by the ANF.He has told investigators that he does not know Tauqeer Ali Khan, an accused who introduced himself to ANF officials as his personal secretary.He has also denied allegations that he influenced officials of the Health Ministry to allocate Ephedrine quotas of 9,000 kg to two pharmaceutical companies.
