ISLAMABAD: The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) arrested on Monday PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah for “possessing a large quantity of drugs in his vehicle”.
“A large quantity of drugs was recovered from Sanaullah’s car,” the ANF said in a statement, adding that the quantity and type of drugs recovered was still being assessed.
We do not make arrests without reason, the force responsible to curb drug use and smuggling said.
According to sources, the PML-N leader was travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore when taken into custody.
Sanaullah’s daughter told a private TV channel that her father’s vehicle entered Lahore at 3.18pm.
Force Commander Brigadier Khalid Mehmood is monitoring the investigation process, the sources said, adding that Sanaullah was shifted to an ANF police station.
While PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said Prime Minister Imran Khan was behind the move, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif condemned the arrest. He termed it the worst example of “lawlessness and political revenge”.
Sanaullah is a former minister for law and parliamentary affairs, Punjab.
A close aide to the Sharif brothers, he began his political career from his native town of Faisalabad. Initially, he entered Pakistan People’s Party but later joined the PML-N.
Currently, he is a member of the National Assembly. He was appointed president of PML-N Punjab in May this year.
The PML-N has called a high-level moot on Tuesday to discuss the developing situation following Sanaullah’s arrest.
According to sources, Shehbaz will head the meeting scheduled to be held at party secretariat in Model Town, Lahore.
Senior party leaders from across the country have been directed to attend the meeting.
Agencies add: Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday termed the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab president Rana Sanaullah as ‘desperate attempt at political victimization’.
While reacting to his arrest, he tweeted, “Arrest of President Punjab PMLN by Anti-Narcotics force is obviously desperate attempt at political victimization.”
Bilawal went on to add that political arrests expose the weakness and desperation of a government. “Sanaullah has been a vociferous critic of PPP in the past & is currently one of the most vocal critics of the regime. Arrests expose govts weakness & desperation,” he added.