MULTAN, July 17: The Lahore High Court, Multan bench, issued on Wednesday notice to the Anti-Narcotics Force to submit a report within 15 days about the expected date of producing drug baron Mushtaq Malik alias Black Prince before the court.

The court issued the notice on a writ petition filed by Black Prince’s brother Qamaruzzaman Malik through senior lawyers Pervez Aftab and Nabiullah Shakir. Black Prince was presented by the ANF as a prosecution witness (PW-5) in a patronage-of-drug-trafficking case registered against Asif Ali Zardari.

Black Prince was imprisoned at the Multan Central Jail in under-trial case (9/2001) registered with the local ANF under section 9-C of CNFA, 1997, for drug trafficking.

The petitioner alleged the ANF had shifted his brother on June 1 last illegally to the ANF’s Garden Town station in Lahore to pressurize him to get a statement against Asif Zardari. The petition was first filed at the principal seat of the high court on June 12. But on the court’s direction, the petition was re-submitted at the Multan bench on June 14, the day when Black Prince recorded his statement against Asif Zardari in the jail trial in provincial capital.

After couple of hearings consumed in modifying the petition on the court’s direction, the court finally issued notice to the ANF authorities on July 2 last to appear before the court with Mushtaq Malik on July 9 to explain why had he been shifted to Lahore and how many other cases were against him.

But, neither any ANF official nor the accused was appeared before the court on July 9. At this, the court again summoned the ANF authorities for July 17.

On Wednesday, ANF Assistant Director Ahmad Jalil Raja and special public prosecutor Mumtaz Malik appeared before the court and said Black Prince had to be interrogated in a case (136/96) registered with Burewala police station. For this purpose, a two-day transit remand of the accused was obtained from the civil court of judge Ali Raza Awan to interrogate the accused.

The ANF officials told the court that the accused was interrogated for two weeks but his involvement could not be proved in the Burewala case. At this, he was produced before a section 30 magistrate on June 14 last who discharged him of the remand.

But the accused requested on medical ground to admit him to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. Nowadays, he was admitted to the Services Hospital in Lahore. The ANF officials presented to the court a medical certificate from the Services Hospital which revealed that the accused could not move owing to bad health.

The court has also summoned ANF Multan station in charge and judge Ali Raza Awan to explain why the accused was remanded on June 1 last in the ANF custody.

Petitioner Qamaruzzaman has alleged when his brother was in an American prison in 1997, top officials of then Ehtesab Bureau visited him on Oct 25 and got a statement against Asif Zardari for patronage-of-drug-trafficking by pressurizing him that otherwise his family in Pakistan would be arrested for drug-trafficking.

He claimed on his release and return to Pakistan, he withdrew the statement under oath that it was the outcome of Ehtesab Bureau’s pressure. The petitioner claimed on June 10 last he succeeded to meet his brother at the ANF’s Garden Town station where he told him that the force authorities were pressurizing him to re-confirm his statement of October 25, 1997.

However, the ANF officials contradicted his claim that he met his brother Black Prince on June 10 in the ANF custody.