DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Provincial revenue minister Ali Ameen Gandapur surrendered to the local police on Monday night after high drama.

The development comes reportedly after the intervention of the central PTI leadership. The minister was wanted in a case registered at the Saddar police station against him for snatching ballot boxes from the polling staff in Himad area and threatening them and police deployed there.

Dozens of policemen led by district police officer Sadiq Baloch showed up outside the minister’s house in the evening and laid siege to the place. However, neither did the police enter the premises nor the minister stepped out to offer arrest.

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Deputy commissioner Nisar Ahmad Khan accompanied the police.

In the meantime, reports surfaced about the fleeing of the minister from the house.

DPO claimed Gandapur breached the commitment he’d made with the police to court arrest.

He later retracted his statement and confirmed the surrender and said the minister was being shifted to a ‘safe place’ for interrogation instead of the police station.

Following the registration of case against him, Ali Ameen claimed he had not broken any law. He said he went to a polling station after learning about rigging in the counting of votes after the polling time ended. “At the polling station, I saw our man’s rival candidates rig electoral process, I took away ballot boxes to check rigging,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2015

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