Ayyan’s bail plea rejected

RAWALPINDI. A Special Customs Court, Rawalpindi, Judge Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan rejected the bail plea of supermodel Ayyan Ali in the smuggling-cum-money laundering case on Wednesday.
After the defence and prosecution completed their arguments, the court denied bail as the court had earlier reserved its decisions.Supermodel Ayyan was arrested in March on the charge of smuggling $500,000 out of the country. Since then, she has been at the Adiala Jail.
Counsel for Ayyan Ali Advocate Latif Khosa and Sardar Ishaq stated in the Special Customs Court that she was carrying money to hand over to her brother, who was traveling to Pakistan from Dubai.
In a review on Ayyan’s bail application, Khosa said the money seized was the joint property of the model and her brother. Khosa defended Ayyan stating that the model was not taking money out of the country and was arrested before she could get her boarding card.
He also said that access to the VIP Lounge was not difficult and anyone could get access by paying Rs1,000 adding she was arrested at the point where there was no customs counter. He further added that the job of the Airport Security Force (ASF) was to check weapons. “The model charges $500,000 per show in foreign countries and is one of the investors in Pakistan,” Khosa said, adding that it was a conspiracy to stop investors coming to Pakistan.
He also objected to the clauses included in the charge sheet under which officials not concerned with her case arrested her and investigated the case. Customs lawyer Malik Kamal said the model was carrying the money in her personal baggage, adding that the model failed to justify her stance and was caught red-handed on the occasion.
The court after listening to the arguments of both the sides rejected the bail of supermodel and said that defence lawyers failed to provide enough evidence in favour of their client. Therefore, court could not release her on bail this time.
Meanwhile, the custodian of the money confiscated from Ayyan Ali succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday after unidentified men opened fire at him.Initial investigations revealed that Customs Officer Chaudhry Ijaz was a key witness in model Ayyan’s ongoing money laundering case. Further, all the money confiscated from Ayyan at the airport was in his custody. Ijaz was shot at in the leg when two armed motorcyclists opened fire at him in an area that fell within the jurisdiction of Waris Khan police station. He was rushed to DHQ Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries due to excessive bleeding.