LAHORE: The Hamza Shehbaz government says it is planning to get red warrants issued for Farhat Shehzadi, also known as Farah Khan, and her husband Ahsan Jameel Gujjar to bring the couple back to the country through Interpol for their involvement in running a racket of diamond smuggling, corruption and land fraud.
“The government will meet all the legal requirements and make every effort to get red warrants issued (by the Interpol) against the couple, who have been involved in diamond smuggling, land fraud and corruption,” Punjab Home Minister Ataullah Tarar told a press conference here on Sunday.
Flanked by Punjab’s Law Minister Malik Mohammad Ahmad Khan, he alleged that PTI chairman Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and her close friend Farah Khan had been looting the national wealth during the over three-and-a-half-year tenure of the party.
Provincial ministers accuse former first lady of being involved in corruption deals
He said that the Anti-Corruption Establishment arrested Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) chief executive officer Rana Yusuf and Special Economic Zone Committee Secretary Maqsood Ahmed because of their involvement in the ‘illegal’ allotment of a 10-acre precious industrial plot to Farah Khan.
A case in this regard was registered on Friday against Farah Khan, her mother, and husband, Ahsan Gujjar.
The plot located in the Faisalabad’s Special Economic Zone was allotted against Rs83 million, while its market value was Rs600m and that its allotment was transferred to Farah Khan through a fake bank guarantee submitted by her husband, Mr Tarar said.
Alleging that former first lady Bushra Bibi was involved in making “corruption deals” while sitting in Bani Gala, the home minister said that Imran Khan, along with his wife and Farah, was running a racket of money laundering through smuggling of diamonds abroad in small packets.
Replying to a question about the arrest of Imran Khan, the home minister said that the government had no plans to take the former premier into custody, otherwise he could be arrested for use of drugs.
He said that action would be taken against the former first lady after the arrest of Farah Khan.
He claimed that the couple would turn approver against the former prime minister within an hour after their return from abroad.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2022