Islamabad: Actress Atiqa Odho, a close aide
of Pervez Musharraf, has resigned from the former military
ruler`s party after she was detained at an airport recently
for having two bottles of liquor in her luggage.
The development embarrassed Musharraf`s All Pakistan
Muslim League (APML) as the consumption of alcohol by Muslims
is prohibited in the country.
Odho, a well-known television and film actress, was head
of the APML`s women?s wing. Odho was detained at the Benazir
Bhutto International Airport in Rawalpindi on Saturday after
officials found two bottles of imported liquor in her luggage.
She was freed after about an hour.
APML spokesman Fawad Chaudhary said the party has formed
a committee to look into the incident.
The committee, after a thorough investigation, will
decide on the issue of accepting Odho`s resignation, he said.
Odho is one of the most public faces of the APML and has
appeared on several television programmes in the recent past
to defend Musharraf, who has been living in self-exile in
Britain and Dubai since 2009.
Adding to Odho`s problems, Supreme Court Chief Justice
Iftikhar Chaudhry on Monday took suo moto notice of the
release of the actress by authorities despite the seizure of
liquor from her luggage.
Chaudhry directed authorities to submit a report on
the incident.
Officials of the Federal Board of Revenue and Airport
Security Force submitted their explanations to a bench headed
by the Pakistan Chief Justice yesterday.
They said the matter was settled without informing the
police as the value of recovered liquor was very little.
The apex court earlier noted that authorities had
recently taken action against an air hostess allegedly
involved in heroin smuggling but had released Odho without
even registering an FIR.
The consumption of alcohol is prohibited in
Muslim-majority Pakistan but the country has a thriving
bootlegging industry. Alcohol is available at a premium in
most Pakistani cities.
PTI
