Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant for Pakistan's interior minister

KARACHI, Pakistan

A Pakistani court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the interior minister in a case related to hurling threats to government officials, a court record and the local media reported.

An anti-terrorist court in northeastern Gujranwala city issued the warrant against Rana Sanaullah for repeatedly skipping the hearings, local broadcaster Geo News reported.

Sanaullah was booked in Aug. 2022, when he was in opposition, for allegedly hurling threats at senior government officials during a press conference. He denies the charge.

The judge of the single-bench court, who earlier denied Sanaullah's request for exemption from Tuesday's hearing, ordered the police to arrest and produce him before the court on March 28, the channel reported.

The same court had issued a bailable arrest warrant for Sanaullah late last month.

The development comes just days after an Islamabad court issued a non-bailable warrant for former prime minister and key opposition leader Imran Khan in connection with illegal purchases and sales of gifts given by foreign dignitaries while he was in power.

The police, however, failed to arrest him at his residence in the northeastern city of Lahore amid resistance from his supporters on Sunday.

The coalition government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have been at loggerheads following a deepening political crisis exacerbated by a sputtering economy and rising inflation.

The PTI demands snap elections, which are otherwise scheduled for October of this year. The government has rejected the demand several times.