Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 9: Even as a Srinagar police team headed by DySP Sajjad Shah conducted at three places here to arrest former Minister for Health Shabir Khan in connection with molestation charges against him, the arrest of Khan could be delayed (if he was not arrested till midnight tonight) as police would have to seek the permission from Legislative Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul to arrest him from tomorrow onwards.
“The Legislative Assembly session is beginning tomorrow. If we had to arrest an MLA during the session, we need written permission of the Speaker,’’ a senior police officer said, adding the senior police authorities would be writing a letter to the Speaker tomorrow seeking permission for the arrest of the MLA tomorrow if he was not arrested or he voluntarily surrenders by tomorrow.
Police would have to enclose a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against Shabir Khan, the charges leveled against him by a lady doctor of Srinagar and other relevant information along with the letter addressed to the Speaker seeking permission to arrest Shabir Khan, a Congress MLA from Rajouri, who had resigned as Minister for Health on Friday soon after police booked him under Section 354 and 509 RPC.
However, police sources said, they didn’t need permission of the Speaker to arrest the Minister tonight.
“But if we fail to get him by midnight tonight or early hours of the morning, the arrest could be delayed, unless the Minister surrendered himself, as tomorrow we had to first write to the Speaker seeking his permission for the arrest of the MLA,’’ sources said.
Shabir Khan is first time MLA from Rajouri Assembly segment.
Sources said the summons issued by Srinagar police to the SSP Jammu (Atul Goel) and SSP Rajouri (Mubassir Latifi) for the arrest of Mr Khan, who had residences at both Jammu and Rajouri, have been returned by the two SSPs with the remarks that the former Minister was not present in his houses.
Srinagar SSP Amit Kumar had written to the two SSPs of Jammu and Rajouri on Friday urging them to inform Khan about the case registered against him and make him available before Shaheed Gunj police station of Srinagar district on Saturday.
Sources said both the SSPs have returned the summons with the remarks that the former Minister was not present in his houses at Jammu as well as Rajouri.
They added that Srinagar police teams headed by DySP Sajjad Shah have conducted raids at two-three places in Jammu to arrest Shabir Khan but couldn’t trace him. The police was continuing with its efforts to nab the former Minister, they said.
The Srinagar police team was armed with arrest warrant issued against the Congress MLA by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar yesterday.
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