Lahore: A Pakistani court has issued notices to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif and several others in response to a petition seeking the reopening of cases related to a terrorist who was arrested in Punjab in 1997 and handed over to the US.
Mir Aimal Kansi was arrested at Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab by a joint team of FBI and Inter-Services Intelligence operatives in June 1997 for a shooting at the CIA headquarters in 1993 that killed two persons and injured three more.
At the time of his arrest, Nawaz Sharif was the premier. Cases related to Kansi`s capture were registered at Dera Ghazi Khan district and in Lahore.
Kansi was accused of killing two CIA officials in Virginia, US. He was shifted to the US for trial and subsequently executed in Virginia in November 2002.
Muhammad Rizwan of Khanewal, through his lawyer Javed Iqbal Jaffrey, filed the petition in the Lahore High Court in which he alleged that Pakistani authorities handed Kansi over to American security officials after getting clearance from Sharif.
Rizwan said the family and friends of Kansi had lodged cases with police in Dera Ghazi Khan and Lahore but the FIRs were allegedly sealed on the orders of Sharif.
He requested the court to direct the Punjab Police chief to open the FIRs and investigate the cases afresh as Kansi`s relatives had filed thousands of applications at different forums for reinvestigation of the cases but to no avail.
Rizwan further alleged that Sharif`s family had transferred about two billion rupees to foreign countries since 1971 but concealed the details.
He asked the court to direct the Sharif family and senior PML-N leaders to disclose their national and foreign assets. Justice Muhammad Khalid Mahmood Khan issued notices to all the respondents and sought their replies within a month.
The Sharif brothers are also facing allegations of receiving money from the ISI to stop the Pakistan People`s Party from coming to power in the 1990 election.
PTI