Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for eminent Pakistani model Ayyan Ali, who is facing trial in a high-profile foreign currency smuggling case.
The warrant was issued by the Rawalpindi-based court in connection with the murder of a customs inspector considered a key prosecution witness in the case.
In March 2015, customs officials arrested the model at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport after recovering $506,800 (Dh1.83 million) from her luggage.
She was on her way to a Gulf country.
Ayyan, 23, born in Dubai in 1993, denied the money laundering charges and was bailed out from prison after spending almost four months in detention. The case is pending at a customs court.
The Rawalpindi court ordered police to arrest the, who is living in southern port city of Karachi.
Sources said a police team would go to Karachi to make the arrest.
Warrants were also issued for arrest of others accused in the case.
Customs Inspector Chaudhry Ejaz Mahmoud was shot dead last year outside his house.
His widow alleged that Ayyan was responsible for the murder.
On her petition, the interior ministry put the model’s name on the Exit Control List — barring her from leaving the country.
