September 07, 2007	Friday	Sha'aban 24, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 6: Anti-Terrorism Court-III judge Shabbir Husain issued a notice to the government on Friday on an application by Saeeduddin seeking an arrest warrant for former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif on his return to Pakistan.

Shahbaz has been declared an absconder in the Sabzazar shootout case.

The judge also issued notices to the Sabzazar SHO on another application seeking the confiscation of Shahbaz’s property. The applications were filed by Saeeduddin, the complainant of the Sabzazar case, through his counsel Aftab Ahmad Bajwa.

The applicant submitted the former chief minister had recently announced his return to Pakistan on Sept 10.

The appellant said all police officers, including the Punjab inspector general, Lahore deputy inspector general, senior superintendent of police (operations) and Sabzazar SHO, should be directed to arrest the “absconder” the moment he returned to Pakistan.

The first information report (FIR) of the case was registered on the orders of the Lahore High Court. According to the FIR, police raided the house of Saeed on April 21, 1998, took his son Salahuddin to the police station and demanded Rs5,000 for his release.

He says that he had read in the newspaper on April 27, 1998, that his son and four others — Wakeel, Waseem, Haider and Abdul Rauf — were killed in a police encounter. He alleged the encounter was held on the direction of Shahbaz. —Reporter