Sharjeel Memon shifted to jail after liquor bottles recovered from hospital room

Sharjeel Memon shifted to jail after liquor bottles recovered from hospital room

Karachi (Staff Report): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Inam Memon was shifted to Karachi Central Jail on Saturday after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar revealed that three alcohol bottles, cigarettes and drugs were found in his room at Ziauddin Hospital.

Earlier on Saturday, before the hearing of the cases at the Supreme Court's Karachi Registry, the CJP made surprise visits to three hospitals and examined the rooms of political prisoners.

"When Sharjeel Memon was asked [about the liquor], he said they were not his," The CJ said. "The attorney general should visit and see what is happening," he added.

Hours after the CJP's surprise visit, police sealed Memon's hospital room and shifted him to Karachi Central Jail.

Blood samples of the former Sindh information minister were also taken.

Later, two people were arrested in connection with the presence of liquor at Memon’s room in the hospital.

One was said to be a driver employed by Memon. He claimed that one of the bottles had held cooking oil, and the other honey.

Memon was under treatment and in judicial custody at Ziauddin Hospital, where his room had been declared a sub-jail.

In February, the chief justice took notice of the shifting of Sharjeel Memon to the hospital from jail. He was then on judicial remand after being arrested in the Rs5.76 billion corruption case in November 2017, along with 11 others.

Meanwhile, the CJP also paid a surprise visit to the room in National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), where Omni Group Chairperson Anwar Majeed was admitted. He is under trial in a money laundering case.

Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA earlier this month whereas Majeed’s three other sons were granted interim bail.

Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in some banks from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources.

According to FIA sources, the amount is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.