LAHORE: A court in Lahore has acquitted Rana Sanaullah Khan of smuggling heroin in his car, ending a high-profile case that focused public interest on how the justice system would treat the loud-mouthed minister for interior.
Khan was arrested in July 2019 by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway. Firdous Aashiq Awan, then-minister for information, said 15 kilograms of heroin was seized from his vehicle.
He spent nearly six months in prison until the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered his release on bail after ruling that no substantial evidence was ever presented to the court.
Drug smuggling is of 27 crimes that can lead to a death sentence in Pakistan.
Saturday’s decision was announced on a petition for acquittal Khan moved in the morning, claiming the case was politically motivated, and that the prosecution did not have any evidence to prove the charge.
He also blamed the former government of Imran Khan for victimising him, according to Farhad Ali Shah, his attorney.
During the proceedings, two ANF officials, Imtiaz Ahmed and Ehsaan Azam, dismissed “wrong” charges against the minister.
In their affidavits submitted in court, the two claimed they were present at the scene when Khan was arrested. “We never saw any sort of drugs being recovered from the scene,” they declared.
At the time of his arrest, Khan’s lawyer, Azim Nazir Tarar, told Reuters the accusations were “ridiculous”.
Tarar said Khan had told the court at his arrest hearing that police had intercepted his vehicle and driven him to their office in Lahore without elaborating any further. Officials told him later that heroin had been seized from his car, he said.
The anti-narcotics police said Khan himself pointed to a briefcase on the rear seat of the car when intercepted, and helped officers unzip a polythene bag containing the drugs.
