Islamabad Police didn’t cooperate in arresting Rana Sanuallah: ACE Punjab

ISLAMABAD: A team of Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab once again failed to arrest Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah citing a “lack of cooperation” from the Islamabad police.

A fresh non-bailable arrest warrant was issued by a judicial magistrate in Rawalpindi ordering the police to immediately arrest the federal minister and produce him before the court.

After the police’s refusal to implement the arrest warrant, the ACE team returned to the Central Civil Judge who expressed his displeasure over the anti-corruption agency. He said the court has issued the arrest warrant and arresting the minister is the responsibility of the police.

“Do you return after every hour to the court in every case? We have given the arrest warrant. Now arresting him is your responsibility,” the judge remarked as he handed over the case file to the ACE team.

Speaking to media outside the local court, ACE Director Punjab Syed Anwar said Islamabad police did not comply with the arrest warrant of Rana Sanaullah.

He said the arrival and departure timing of the ACE team was not recorded by the police station. He said they would have approached the Speaker National Speaker if the warrant was implemented to arrest the federal minister.

He said detaining Rana Sanaullah without registering with the police station would be considered a case of kidnapping. “We are following the law,” he said, adding the minister’s Faisalabad address is also in the registry and the court has been informed that Rana Sanaullah is residing in Islamabad.

He said the case is registered since 2019 and Rana Sanaullah has not appeared. He said all records have been given to the Islamabad police but no action has been taken.

In an earlier statement, ACE Punjab said that the Islamabad Police “refused to cooperate” to arrest the interior minister. The officials also accused the police of misbehaving with them as they arrived at the federal capital’s Secretariat Police Station to make the arrest.

“The police did not even record the arrival and departure of the anti-corruption team. Our vehicles were also taken out of the police station,” the ACE officials stated.

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In response, Islamabad Police said that a formal arrest warrant was received at the police station but ACE Punjab refused to provide the records. Police said that the ACE was directed to take the legal route as per the prevailing procedure but no clear stand has been adopted by the anti-corruption body.

The statement further said that action will be taken according to all legal regulations to avoid misrepresentation. Islamabad Capital Police is present at all times to comply with all court orders, it added.

This is the second time a court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the interior minister for failing to appear before the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).

The previous arrest warrant had only one address of the minister mentioned, whereas it was requested to add more addresses in the fresh warrant. ACE Punjab visited the had visited the Kohsar police station which refused to implement the arrest warrant citing lack of jurisdiction.