Non-bailable arrest warrant issued for CM Gandapur in audio leak case

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court on Monday ordered authorities to arrest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and produce him before it in the audio leak case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasr Minallah Baloch issued the non-bailable arrest warrant for the KP chief executive in the case.

The other suspect in the case appeared before the court for the hearing.

Following the issuance of a warrant for Gandapur, the court adjourned the hearing till November 5.

It is to be noted here that the case was registered at the Golra Police Station after an audio leak surfaced in which the KP chief minister was purportedly asking about the number of weapons, licences, and people.

This is the second warrant issued for CM Gandapur this month.

On September 10, a district and sessions court in the federal capital issued an arrest warrant for him in the alleged liquor and illegal weapons recovery case.

Judicial Magistrate Mubashir Hassan issued the warrant after no representative appeared on behalf of the KP chief minister in the hearing.

The court directed authorities to arrest CM Gandapur and produce him before it on September 17.

The warrants come against the backdrop of ongoing legal and political woes of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose senior leadership — including its founder Imran Khan — has been behind bars owing to a plethora of cases, primarily related to the May 9 riots.