Senior PTI leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said the drug smuggling case against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was “rubbish.”
پی ٹی آئی کے دور حکومت میں راناثناءاللہ پر جو 15کلو ہیروئن کا کیس بنایا گیا تھا وہ کیس جھوٹا تھا شہریار آفریدی نے جھوٹی قسم اٹھائی تھی ۔ انکے سابقہ کارنامے خود انکے لوگوں کے زبانی ۔فواد چوہدری کا اعتراف pic.twitter.com/nSSpAKO8An
— Younas Khan (@Younaaskhan) July 7, 2022
In the Express News programme “Kal Tak,” Chaudhry said, “when this case was brought before the cabinet, and I spoke up about it, the concerned officer left.”
The PTI leader said he never believed the case had merit, adding that when he asked the “concerned officer” questions regarding the case, he “knew the case was just rubbish.”
When asked about the former state minister for narcotics control, Shehryar Afridi’s oath, which he had taken regarding the case’s veracity, Chaudhry said, “what he [Afridi] did was wrong.”
Read more: Rana Sanaullah warns Imran Khan
The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Lahore team arrested the minister in July 2019 under the previous government while he was travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore near the Ravi Toll Plaza on the motorway.
The ANF accused him of carrying 15 kilograms of heroin in his vehicle and other drugs in his possession during the operation conducted on a tip-off.
Five others were also arrested, including the driver and security guards of the PML-N leader.
“A first information report was lodged under Section 9(C) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail term that may extend to 14 years, along with a fine up to Rs1 million,” Dawn reported.
On May 31, 2022, A special court for the control of narcotic substances in Lahore said the charges against Sanaullah in a drugs case would be framed on June 25 and directed him to be present at the next hearing.
The PML-N leader insisted that he had been implicated in a false case and was being politically victimised.
Read more: Rana Sanaullah summoned on June 25 for indictment in drugs case
Afridi, during a national assembly session, stated, “If you [Sanaullah] are speaking the truth, then you must face the trial and do not use the delaying tactics.”
Furthermore, the ANF had accused Sanaullah of drug trafficking, stating that the minister admitted to being involved in practice for the last few years.
“Rana Sanaullah used to take drugs from Afghans in Faisalabad and supply them abroad. He said his vehicle was not checked, so he used to smuggle drugs in his personal vehicle,” the challan said.
With input from Express Tribune