GUJRAT, March 12: Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has said there has always been a political wing in the Directorate of Inter Services Intelligence and the prime minister and the president will be informed about the agency’s policies and requirements by newly-appointed ISI Director General Zahirul Islam.

Talking to journalists in his office here on Monday, the minister said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani would consider any proposal made by the new ISI chief about relations with the US. Referring to the Mehran Bank scandal, Mr Mukhtar said cases should be registered against all people involved in the scam and those who had received huge amounts of money.

“The Mehran Bank scandal proves that PML-N received the money and Shahbaz Sharif was paid the amount through the bank.”

Mr Mukhtar said it was an irony that the PML-N which had received money from the ISI was claiming to be clean and levelling charges of corruption against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Later, the defence minister distributed cheques of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) among the needy and poor women.

Earlier, scores of PPP workers from the town of Kunjah staged a protest demonstration and chanted slogans against the defence minister at his office against the rude attitude of the minister.

The minister had earlier refused to meet workers and ordered them to get out of office when they complained that they were being ignored by the minister.

“Complaints of party workers annoyed Mr Mukhtar who said he would continue to ignore workers even in future and asked them to get out of his office and search for a new MNA for themselves,” one estranged party worker told Dawn.

Latter, the PPP workers called on Gujrat PPP District President Tahir Zaman Kaira in Lalamusa and another PPP leader Mian Fakhar Mushtaq Pagganwala and informed them of the harsh treatment meted out to them by the minister.