Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 10: In more trouble for former Health Minister Shabir Khan, a Congress MLA from Rajouri, Legislative Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul today gave his nod to police for his arrest on molestation charges, saying they (the police personnel) should act according to the law.
“Police had come with a warrant (for arrest of Shabir Khan). I told them (police) you go according to law. I have given them permission to arrest the MLA,” Mr Gul told reporters on the opening day of the budget session of the Assembly here.
Asked whether police has sought his permission to arrest the sacked Minister and Congress MLA from Rajouri, Mr Gul said: “it is not necessary that I will give permission but it is necessary to seek permission of the Assembly Speaker about the arrest of any member of this House.
“When the police came to my office with warrant, I told them you go according to law. I permitted them to arrest Khan”, he said.
Asked if the former Minister has gone into hiding, he said: “it is not a question for the Speaker to reply. You can go and ask the Government.
“The DySP and SHO of the area (Shaheed Gunj police station in Srinagar district under whose operational area the alleged crime took place), had come to me with the warrant, ” Mr Gul said, adding that they “delivered a copy of the warrant in my office and sought written permission”.
It is mandatory for police to inform the Speaker with regard to the arrest of any member, he said.
Khan had resigned on February 7, a day after he was booked by police on a complaint by a lady doctor, alleging that he made an attempt to molest her in his office in Srinagar, the winter capital of the State when the former Minister was there as part of his duty in the Winter Secretariat.
The MLA from Rajouri and Minister of State for Health had submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who forwarded it to Governor N N Vohra.
On February 8, a court in Srinagar had issued an arrest warrant against Khan in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, Srinagar police teams today conducted raids at the residences of Shabir Khan’s relatives at Gandhi Nagar here and Manjakote in Rajouri apart from couple of other places but couldn’t get any clues about the former Minister.
Srinagar police had been camping in Jammu for past few days in search of Shabir Khan but he remained untraced. Police said they would continue searches for the Congress MLA at different places.
Follow our WhatsApp channel