Court of Control of Narcotic Substances (CNS) on Friday decided to indict Ali Musa Gilani, son of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, and former federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin along with other accused in the ephedrine quota corruption case.
The court was also informed that the alleged front man of Gilani had been arrested on Friday from Karachi.
CNS judge Arshad Mehmood Tabassum heard the case, while Ali Musa Gilani, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Col (r) Tahir Lahoti, Ansar Farooq, Ansaar Ahmed, Asad Hafeez, Abdul Sattar Sorani, Iftikhar Ahmed Babar and Abdul Khaliq were also present in court.
The court ordered the prosecution to provide copies of the report to all accused and decided to frame a charge on them in the next hearing.
ANF Joint Director Legal Col (r) Akhtar Abbas informed the court that ANF had arrested the alleged front man of Ali Musa Gilani and prime suspect in the case, Tauqir Ali Khan from Karachi on Friday. He was presented before judicial magistrate Muhammad Aslam and got a seven-day physical remand.
The court also issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khushnood Lashari, former principal secretary of premier Gilani, and Anjum Shah, the alleged front man for Makhdoom Shahabuddin, due to their continued absence.
According to ANF, in 2010, Danas Pharmaceutical Company, Islamabad and Berlex Pharmaceutical, Multan obtained a 9,500 kg quota of the controlled chemical, ephedrine, from the Ministry of Health for export to Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, the medicine manufactures got the export quotas converted to local consumption quotas and allegedly smuggled the chemical to Iran for Rs 7 billion with the help of smugglers in Quetta and Karachi.
The court adjourned the hearing until April 5.
