Liquor case: Islamabad court issues arrest warrant for KP CM

After Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur failed to appear in the hearing again, a district and sessions court in Islamabad issued an arrest warrant for him in the weapons and liquor recovery case.

Resuming the hearing today, the arrest order was issued by judicial magistrate Mubashir Hassan after he rejected Gandapur's plea seeking exemption from personal appearance.

Hassan ordered authorities to arrest the KP chief executive by tomorrow (July 22) and produce him before the court.

Prior to this order, the Islamabad court issued Gandapur's arrest warrants two days ago in the same case and granted the final opportunity to the firebrand politician to record his statement under Section 342.

It also warned that the court may issue a verdict in his absence, and failure to do so could forfeit his right to record the statement.

The order read that the case had been pending for eight years, and the prosecution recorded testimonies of witnesses since May last year.

Expressing displeasure over Gandapur's absence in the hearing, the court said that the KP CM was deliberately avoiding recording his statement.

The development came a week after KP CM Gandapur announced launching the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s "do-or-die" protest movement from Lahore.

The former ruling party had formally launched its anti-government campaign, set to reach its "peak" by August 5, following the directives of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.