RAWALPINDI, July 13: A special court of Rawalpindi on Friday declared the director of pharmaceutical company who was allegedly involved in ephedrine scam as an approver.

Control of Narcotics Substance (CNS) court judge Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry accepted the request of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) for granting the approver status to Rizwan Ahmed Khan, director of Danas pharmaceutical company.

ANF special prosecutor Waseem Ahmed Qureshi told the CNS judge that Rizwan Khan had requested the ANF authorities to become approver and had sworn an affidavit in this regard.

He further said the competent authority of ANF had already accepted the request. Advocate Qureshi requested the court to declare him an approver in the said case adding that the court might tender pardon to him in the interest of justice.

Rizwan Khan told the court that he volunteered to become approver and had recorded his statement to the ANF without any pressure and influence. The court adjourned further proceedings till Friday.

According to the ANF challan of the ephedrine case, Rizwan Khan a director of Danas Pharma and his partners managed the allocation and conversion of 2,500kg ephedrine which was later sold to the smugglers and local manufacturers.

The challan said that Rizwan Khan and his accomplices planned to get ephedrine quota by utilising their contacts.

He along with other accused prepared fake manufacturing record of ephedrine and managed allocation and conversion of ephedrine through ministry of health with the support of Tauqeer Ali Khan, the alleged front man of Musa Gillani. Rizwan paid Tauqeer Rs14 million for the said allocation and conversion, the challan added.

Earlier, Dr Rashid Juma former director general health, an approver in the same case in his statement recorded before the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) on June 16, confessed to the crime of illegal allocation and conversion of 9,000kg ephedrine to the pharmaceutical companies – Berlex and Danas – and also alleged Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Musa Gillani and Khushnood Lashari for pressurising and blackmailing him for committing the crime.

According to the ANF prosecutors Dr Juma would record his approver’s testimony in the court on Saturday.