PESHAWAR, July 27: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday directed the NWFP government not to release, till its next order, Amanullah Khan Kundi, a former provincial minister convicted of drug trafficking.

However, following the court's order suspending a government notification about withdrawal of all cases against Mr Kundi, it was reported that the former minister had disappeared from the D. I. Khan district hospital where he was undergoing treatment for a cardiac problem.

Acting on a petition filed by the Anti-Narcotics Force, the court's two-member bench suspended the notification issued by the provincial government ordering Mr Kundi's release.

The bench, comprising Justice Shehzad Akber Khan and Justice Qaim Jan Khan, directed the provincial government to submit comments on the ANF's writ petition within a fortnight.

The court ruled that a fresh notice should be served on Mr Kundi through the superintendent of the Dera Ismail Khan central prison. Deputy Attorney-General Salahuddin Khan, representing the ANF, contended before the court that the NWFP chief minister had also withdrawn two other cases against Mr Kundi.

He expressed the apprehension that the provincial authorities might soon release Mr Kundi. He requested the court to suspend the impugned notification so that Mr Kundi's release could be stopped.

The NWFP government had suspended Mr Kundi's remaining prison term under section 401 of the Criminal Procedure Code on medical grounds. The ANF challenged the provincial government's order through the writ petition and filed a separate application for staying Mr Kundi's release.

Mr Kundi was sentenced to 25 years rigorous imprisonment by a speedy trial court in Karachi in September 1992 for attempting to smuggle 10kg of heroin. He escaped from the police custody from a D.I. Khan hospital on August 20, 1993 and after absconding for about a decade, he surrendered to the government in March 2003.

It is believed that some Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders had been instrumental in getting Mr Kundi's sentence suspended as his family had helped them in elections.