ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Wednesday upheld the non-bailable arrest warrant for former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Amin Gandapur over his repeated failure to appear in hearings of a 2016 arms and liquor case.
The warrant, initially issued around a week ago, has been reissued multiple times due to Gandapur’s persistent absence — including on Oct 5, 2024, Sept 4, 2024, July 19, 2025, Sept 10, 2025, and Oct 21, 2025.
During Wednesday’s hearing, neither Gandapur nor his counsel, Raja Zahoor-ul-Hassan, appeared before the court. Consequently, Additional Sessions Judge Mubashir Hassan Chishti upheld the previous order and directed authorities to arrest and produce the PTI leader before the court. The hearing was adjourned till Nov 11.
Pakistan police arrest Ali Amin Gandapur, Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and a key aide of former PM Imran Khan pic.twitter.com/1Emq0WFftD
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 5, 2024
The case dates back to Oct 30, 2016, when Islamabad police claimed to have recovered five Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, alcohol and three tear gas shells from Gandapur’s vehicle outside Bani Gala, the residence of PTI founder Imran Khan.
The incident occurred amid a government crackdown on PTI workers mobilising for a planned ‘lockdown’ of the capital on Nov 2 that year. Gandapur, then serving as KP’s revenue minister, denied the allegations, asserting that the recovered firearms were licensed and the bottle alleged to contain liquor actually contained honey.
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A case was subsequently registered at Bhara Kahu police station. Gandapur has consistently termed the case “politically motivated,” claiming he was neither present during the alleged recovery nor the owner of the vehicle involved.
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