Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Thursday registered a case against Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on charges of terrorism and “threatening the judiciary and government officials.”
Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Thursday registered a case against Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on charges of terrorism and “threatening the judiciary and government officials.” Former Federal Minister Moonis Elahi, who is the son of Punjab province Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, termed the move a tit-for-tat response to the federal government’s “illegal” actions against former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“You (Sanaullah) make false cases against our (former) prime minister Imran Khan. Now the people of Pakistan have made a genuine case against you. You will soon be arrested,” Moonis tweeted after uploading a copy of the FIR against Sanaullah.
The complainant, who is a resident of Gujrat city, said he was watching a talk show on Geo News on August 21, when clips of Sanaullah’s speeches from April, 2021 and January 2022 were aired.
In these speeches, the minister was shown hurling threats to the judiciary, the Punjab Chief Secretary and Lahore Commissioner and their children.
A case under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act was registered against the Interior Minister in Gujrat city, around 150 kms from Lahore.
Interestingly, it was on Sanaullah’s orders that Khan was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act after he threatened an additional sessions judge, Zeba Chaudhry, and senior officers of the Islamabad Police at a rally in the federal capital last week.
The anti-terrorism court in Islamabad has granted Khan interim bail in this case until September 1.
In July, Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared Elahi, a candidate backed by Khan, as the Punjab province Chief Minister.
The political temperature in Pakistan has been high since April — when Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted from the Prime Minister’s office.
Since his ouster, Khan has been targeting powerful institutions, including the Pakistan Army and the Election Commission.