Panel to probe presence of snake at MP’S cell
ISLAMABAD: Senior Karachi police officer Ghulam Nabi Memon has constituted a commitee to probe into the claim of a deadly snake being found in opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh’s cell at the Special Investigation Unit’s (SIU) Saddar centre, where he was detained following his arrest over charges of interfering in the election process in Malir’s PS-88.
The commitee is headed by Crime Investigation Agency officer Arif Hanif and includes Korangi Faisal Abdullah Chachar and Sarfaraz Nawaz as members.
As part of the initial investigation, the commitee has visited and inspected the cell where Haleem Sheikh was kept and its surroundings.
The Karachi police chief had earlier said he had sought a report on the mater from Hanif, ater Haleem Sheikh, who is also the vice-president of Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) in Sindh, claimed that a four feet-long black cobra was let in his cell in a deliberate atempt to kill him.
“This was done on the directives of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhuto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah,” Haleem Sheikh had alleged, adding that the snake was seen and photographed by policemen as well.
Meanwhile, police officials said that such incidents are common at the SIU centre in Saddar.
They said that Haleem Sheikh had informed them about the presence of a snake in his lock-up. They claimed, however, that Haleem Sheikh did not see the snake inside the lock-up, but in the balcony while he was going to the washroom.
There is no window or hole in the room where Haleem Sheikh was kept, they said, ruling out the possibility of the reptile finding an opening to enter the cell. These officials further stated that an employee of Haleem Sheikh’s had brought him food and other essential items on Thursday night as the PT leader had refused to consume the food provided by the police.
A chemical examination of the corpse of the snake, purportedly killed by Haleem Sheikh, will be performed.
In a separate development, an appeal has been filed against the acceptance of the nomination papers of PTI leader Faisal Vawda for the forthcoming Senate elections before an election tribunal of the Sindh High Court (SHC).
Appellant Qadir Khan Mandokhel submited in his petition that the returning officer accepted Vawda’s nomination papers without proper appreciation of facts and law.
He claimed Vawda had misdeclared about his properties, assets and dual nationality in his nomination paper at the time of the general election 2018 as such he cannot be considered to be “Sadiq and Ameen” in terms of Article 62 of the Constitution.