A case was registered by the Punjab police against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday on charges of terrorism under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). A complainant named Sheikh Aslam registered a First Information Report (FIR) at the Industrial Estate police station of Gujrat.
In the FIR, Aslam stated that Rana Sanaullah appeared on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’ on August 21. During the show, Aslam said that the anchor [Shahzad Iqbal] ran some old clips and statements of Sanaullah that were aired on different TV channels on April 16, 2021 and January 29, 2022, respectively.
In the clips, the minister had threatened the judiciary, the Punjab chief secretary, commissioner, other government officials and their children with dire consequences. Moreover, the FIR stated that Sanaullah threatened to kill government officials’ children and said they wouldn’t get any help from the judiciary.
“Rana Sanaullah’s statement was to terrorise the judiciary, chief secretary and other government officials so they can’t do their job and fulfil their legal responsibilities”, added the FIR.
The development was confirmed by Punjab Home Minister Hashim Dogar. In a tweet, the home minister said that the charges levelled in the FIR are serious and action would be taken in accordance with the law.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi also shared a copy of the FIR: “You [Sanaullah] make false cases against Imran Khan, now the Pakistani nation has registered a true case against you.”
An official source told Dawn that the complainant was “wanted” by the Islamabad Police in some cases lodged with Kohsar and Aabpara police stations. The police had already issued him notices and they have initiated the process to declare him a proclaimed offender.
