Ephedrine case: Abbasi appears in court as last witness cross-examined

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GEO NEWS
PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi addressing the media in July 2017. Photo: File 

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Mulsim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi appeared before a special court on Tuesday in the ephedrine case. 

Abbasi, along with seven others including his brother Basit, appeared in the control of narcotic substances (CNS) court hearing the case. 

The defence counsel conducted cross-examination of the prosecution's last witness — investigation officer Imtiaz Hussain Shah. 

The case is being heard by CNS Court Judge Raza Pervez Akhtar.

Abbasi is facing charges of misusing 500kg of the controlled chemical ephedrine which he obtained for his company, Gray Pharmaceutical, in 2010. Officials of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) claim the substance was sold by Abbasi to narcotics smugglers who used it to make 'party drugs'. 

The ANF had registered a case against Abbasi and his accomplices in June 2012 under various sections of the CNS Act. Abbasi and the other accused were indicted in 2014 by the CNS court.

The case is said to be in its final stages as almost all the witnesses have recorded their statements. 

PML-N's Abbasi, a former MNA from Rawalpindi, has petitioned the Supreme Court against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and Secretary General Jahangir Tareen.