Rana Sanaullah admitted involvement in drug smuggling, claims ANF in challan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan admitted in his statement recorded before investigation officer that he was involved in narcotics smuggling for years, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) claimed in its challan submitted before the court.

"I have been associated with drugs/narcotics smuggling since years. My expenditures swelled up soon after I entered into politics, but my income was not much. I developed links with drug smugglers after entering into politics, particularly after becoming Law Minister in the Punjab cabinet," Sanaullah admitted in his statement, according to the ANF challan.

"I felt that a few politicians known to me became billionaires and big leaders of almost all political parties made properties through illegal means. I was from middle class and developed a greed after meeting them. The business of drug smuggling and abetting criminals suited me well. So I started facilitating and helping drug dealers and gradually started sending narcotics through my personal vehicles. It was easy way to avoid police, etc. as being an influential person no one dared to check my vehicle," Sanaullah confessed in his statement, according to the four-page ANF challan submitted before the court on Tuesday.

"I got drugs from Afghans in Faisalabad and then other drug dealers got these drugs from me at different points for smuggling abroad to different countries," read the statement.

But the PML-N leader's wife, Nabeela Sanaullah, vehemently denied the charges, terming it a fake story against her husband. She claimed that the ANF was trying to film a fake video of her husband carrying drugs.

"It is all the way a fake story. My husband is innocent," she told Geo News. Sanaullah's arrest has been termed as political victimisation by several critics of the government as well.

The ANF challan further claimed that "on July 1, ANF through a source learnt that Rana Sanaullah would be carrying huge narcotics in his vehicle V-8 No BF-0601 Sindh while travelling to Lahore. ANF prepared a raiding team consisted of Assistant Director Imtiaz Cheema, Inspectors Nauman Ghaus, Mohammad Aslam, Ahsan Azam, Sub-Inspectors Anjum Shakil, Nida Ali Hassan, Head Constables Taufq Ahmed, Mohammad Younis, Constables Ahmed Aftab, Wasim Mukhtar, Muddasir Hussain, Mohammad Aslam, Mohammad Asif, Farooq Ashraf, Waseem Akram, Tausif Ahmed, Mohammad Adnan, driver Shahbaz Ahmjum, constable drivers Mohammad Ishfaq and Imam Bux. The team reached around 1pm at Ravi T. Plaza Lahore. Around 3:29pm, Rana Sanaullah with his personal guards reached at the spot with two vehicles, three persons were riding in each vehicle. As ANF team tried to recover heroin bag and pistol from custody of Rana Sanaullah, his guards started fighting with ANF team." The ANF officials further claimed to have seized 15 kilograms of heroin from Sanaullah's vehicle while they also detained the PML-N leader's guard for taking the law into hands.

The challan, a copy of which is available with this correspondent, further claimed that the private guards tried to snatch Rana Sanaullah from ANF officials in an attempt to escape, but ANF constables overpowered them on the spot.

The CDRs, CCTV footages, CDs, SECP letter, FIA travel history, statements of witnesses, reports of NIH, assets details and other necessary documents have also been clubbed with the challan.

Azizullah, Deputy Director Operations, submitted the challan, which also read that six witnesses have recorded their statements. They were named as DD Operations Azizullah, AD Imtiaz Cheema, Inspector Nauman Ghaus, Inspector Ahsan Azam, SI Tanswar Hussain, and ASI Muhammad Saleem. Criminal records of all the accused have also been submitted before the court. Some nine cases have already been filed against four alleged front men of Rana Sanaullah in connection with the matter.

A special investigation team, headed by a Brigadier-rank officer, is carrying ouyt the investigation against Sanaullah. The team has questioned around half a dozen accused arrested by the ANF in a drug-related case in the past eight days.

The five-member team will continue to probe around a dozen individuals accused in this high-profile drug smuggling case for in the next two weeks as the magistrate extended the judicial remand of all the accused, including Sanaullah. The hearing of the case is scheduled to resume on July 30.