Islamabad:
Bottles of alcohol were found in the hospital room of an incarcerated former Pakistan People’s Party minister in Karachi on Saturday.
The bottles were found during a surprise visit by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar to the Dr Ziauddin Hospital.
Nisar said while inspecting the hospital, he went to Sharjeel Inam Memon’s room and found the alcohol bottles.
Former Sindh information minister Memon, being probed for alleged corruption, was shifted from a jail in Karachi to the hospital for treatment for a heart ailment.
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“When Sharjeel Memon was asked (about the liquor), he said they (bottles) were not his,” Justice Nisar said later at the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry.
Following the findings, police and jail officials rushed to the hospital and shifted Memon to the jail and sealed his room.
Superintendent Police Umar Shahid told reporters that police have taken custody of the material seized from the room.
The seized items have been sent to a laboratory for forensic tests, the officer said.
“Nobody will be spared and those responsible will be dealt with according to the law,” he said.
Police have also arrested Memon’s driver and one of his servants.
The driver told reporters that as far as he knew, the bottles found in Memon’s room contained oil and honey.
Justice Nisar, who reportedly photographed the alcohol bottles, also warned of consequences to those who broke the law.
Memon is accused of embezzling around Rs 6 billion while heading the Sindh Information Ministry.
Nisar also visited the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) where Hussain Lawai and Anwar Majeed, accused in the money laundering case, are admitted.
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He examined various items in their rooms and also confiscated some records from Majeed’s room.
Both Lawai and Majeed are considered close to former president Asif Ali Zardari, who is also being probed in the same case.
Alcohol is banned in Pakistan but it is believed that certain sections have access to liquor.
