The Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) on Saturday obtained search warrants for the arrest of former prime minister’s son Ali Musa Gilani over his alleged involvement in the Rs 7 billion Ephedrine drug scam. Earlier on June 21, an Anti-Narcotics Court issued the arrest warrants for Ali Musa, but he managed to dodge the ANF investigators and has been evading arrest so far. After failing to arrest the high-profile accused, ANF Deputy Director Abid Zulfiqar, who is investigating the ephedrine case, turned to the court of a special magistrate in Rawalpindi and sought the fugitive’s search warrants.
Special Magistrate Shafqatullah Khan, after hearing the ANF’s arguments for speedy completion for the mega corruption scandal, issued Ali Musa’s search warrants. The warrants have enabled the investigators to carry out raids anywhere in the country at any time to arrest the accused. “Now we have the search warrants. We have the right and authority to conduct raids anywhere to arrest Ali Musa Gilani. We hope to arrest him in a few days,” an ANF official said, requesting anonymity. On June 21, an ANF court had issued the arrest warrants for Ali Musa Gilani and senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Makhdoom Shahabuddin in the ephedrine case. However, a day after the warrants were issued, Shahabuddin acquired a pre-arrest bail from Peshawar High Court. Ali Musa also moved an application in the court of an additional session judge in Rawalpindi, seeking cancellation of his arrest warrants; however, the court rejected his plea. Sources in the ANF told Pakistan Today that Shahabuddin, after getting the pre-arrest bail, has been in contact with the ANF investigators and is cooperating with them.
ANF gets search warrants to arrest fugitive Ali Musa Gilani
