Ex-Customs official claims ‘antique tiles’ case genuine

LAHORE:A retired Customs official, who had seized alleged ‘antique tiles’ that were being dispatched to London, has claimed that he caught the consignment sans any pressure or interference.

Khalid Masood, ex-superintendent of Customs, has refuted Imran Khan’s oft-repeated claim of implicating his ex-wife in a fake case of ‘antique tiles’ on political motives at the behest of the then PML-N government in 1999, saying that Customs officials had charged Jemima Khan with smuggling of ‘antique tiles’ without any political pressure or any outside interference.

In public gatherings, Imran has alleged that his ex-wife was charged with smuggling on the pressure of the Sharifs. Khalid Masood said when a container inspected by a Customs Inspector at Mughalpura Dry Port Lahore was suspected to have been carrying ‘antique tiles,’ he had the tiles verified from the Archaeology Department.

Talking to The News, Khalid said: “The inspector had informed me and I reached on the spot and inspected the “under-valued tiles”. “A shipment of at least 397 tiles was being sent to London on the name of Lady Annabel Goldsmith, ex-mother-in-law of Imran Khan. Jemima Goldsmith was mentioned as a shipper,” he claimed.

He said the Archeological Department had verified that the tiles were 300 to 400 years old and were similar to those stolen from different archeological sites in the country. He said: “Whenever I or members of my family listen to Imran’s unwarranted remarks on TV, we feel emotional disturbance.”

The News repeatedly tried to contact Fawad Chaudhry and Dr Shahbaz Gill, but they did not respond. When Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan was contacted, he said do not beat a dead horse.