ISLAMABAD: Customs officials on Wednesday opposed the detention of supermodel Ayyan, who was detained for attempting to fly out with $506,000, as a category B 'VIP' inmate at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail which entitles her to several privileges not available to other inmates .
They submitted a written response requesting the Customs court in Rawalpindi to reject Ayyan's plea which proposes that she should be detained as a class B inmate.
In her plea, Ayyan's lawyer Khurram Latif Khosa had maintained that Ayyan should be awarded Class B status as she is a well-known figure and is not habitual of a less-than-comfortable lifestyle.
Customs officials claimed that since Ayyan is currently detained on judicial remand in a case of money-laundering, she does not merit a class B inmate status.
According to Customs officials, Ayyan maintains that she acquired the money by selling property. They informed the court, which was presided by Judge Mumtaz Hassan Chaudhry, that Ayyan's property dealer presented documentary evidence to show that he sold five properties that Ayyan owned in Karachi's Bahria Town.
Also read: No bail for Ayyan in money laundering case
As a category B inmate in the Adiala Jail, notorious for housing terrorists and high profile criminals among its 4,500 inmates, supermodel Ayyan enjoys the selective privileges that celebdom affords.
A natural beneficiary of the ubiquitous ‘VIP culture’, Ayyan has been provided a room of her own in the ladies barracks of the jail, as well as a female helper who cleans and fetches meals.
Take a look: A room with a charpoy — Ayyan's days in Adiala jail
While the special treatment afforded to Ayyan is just a notch below the privileges enjoyed by 'category A' detainees, a term used by jail authorities for ‘VVIPs’, her room in the jail includes a charpoy for her to sleep on.
All inmates at Adiala jail are allowed to send for food, and Ayyan is no exception. She is being provided food and water from outside the jail.
Ayyan was catching flight EK-651 to Dubai in the early hours of Saturday when she was detained by airport security. The scanners had picked up irregularities with her luggage, and customs officials soon discovered a sum of $506,800 in her bag. Ironically, Ayyan had released a number titled 'Making Dollars' just five months prior to her arrest.