–Court also orders Interior Ministry to place names of land grabber Mansha ‘Bomb’ and his four sons on ECL, arrest them immediately
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered two lawmakers belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to submit written apologies for protecting a notorious land grabbing gang of Lahore besides ordering the Ministry of Interior to place the names of the gang’s leader, Mansha ‘Bomb’, and his sons on the Exit Control List (ECL).
While hearing a petition against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Karamat Ali Khokhar’s political interference in Mansha’s arrest, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar said that the court “will deal with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar if he tries to protect anyone”.
The petition was made by an overseas Pakistani, Mahmood Ashraf, against police’s ‘reluctance’ to take action against Mansha alias Bomb, who had allegedly grabbed his property.
The top judge further remarked that the PTI is habitual of following the court.
“When we ordered authorities to take action against land grabbers, the Punjab CM also gave a similar statement,” he said while referring to Buzdar’s earlier statement.
Earlier on Monday, Buzdar had said that he will “personally monitor an operation against land grabbing groups and encroachments”.
“I will not allow even an inch of land that belongs to the government to be grabbed by anyone,” the Punjab CM said, adding that the operation will continue till all illegally occupied land is recovered.
Meanwhile, the apex court had dismissed proceedings against PTI MNA Khokhar and MPA Nadeem Abbas Bara after they submitted an unconditional apology for protecting Mansha and hindering the police investigation.
The two were ordered to submit a written apology for trying to influence the police in their investigation and assured the court that they would assist police in Mansha’s arrest.
Moreover, Punjab police officials present in the court termed Mansha as a “huge mafia”, adding that they had been trying to arrest him for quite some time.
Both Khokhar and Bara had earlier denied that they tried to influence police proceedings, however, they changed their statements during the hearing on Monday.
Khokhar said that Mansha Bomb was a member of his community, adding that he “made a mistake in trying to help him”. He insisted that he had “asked the police not to arrest Mansha only if they had not registered a case against the suspect”.
Meanwhile, Bara said that he got involved in the matter “by mistake”.
The hearing of the petition was adjourned until an unspecified date.
Earlier, on Sunday, the CJP ordered police to arrest Mansha immediately and directed authorities to recover the land that had been grabbed illegally.
This order had come when an SC bench was hearing a citizen’s petition against the land grabbing group.
