Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and lawmaker Rana Sanaullah was on Wednesday morning intercepted by police off Lahore’s The Mall. He, however, refused to step out of the vehicle and let the officials check it in the absence of media, The Current has learnt.

According to sources, the PML-N stalwart was stopped by the police in the Regal Chowk area of the provincial capital in connection with the arrest of party president and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) since Tuesday had been attempting to arrest Shehbaz in the assets beyond means case against him. The bureau had, however, failed to trace the PML-N chief despite raiding his Model Town and Jati Umra residences among other locations.

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Wednesday’s incident took place before a Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench granted pre-arrest bail to Shehbaz till June 17.

“I will not let you check my vehicle in the absence of media because I fear being framed for carrying drugs once again,” Sanaullah, who had earlier been arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), told the cops who stopped him to check if Shehbaz was also present in the vehicle.

The ANF had last year detained the lawmaker after accusing him of carrying a cache of drugs in his vehicle and for “supplying it to drug dealers”.

After months-long incarceration, Sanaullah had been granted bail amid lack of evidence. He had then accused the ANF of planting the drugs in his vehicle for the registration of a “bogus” case against him.