NAB arrests Shehbaz Sharif after LHC rejects bail plea

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif was arrested on Monday after his interim bail extension was rejected in the money laundering case.

The PML-N leader reached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for a hearing on his interim bail petition in a money-laundering case and assets beyond means case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A two-member bench of the LHC presided over the hearing and dismissed the plea to extend his interim bail. He was subsequently arrested by NAB from the outside the premises of the court.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz reacted to the arrested and said Shehbaz was “arrested ONLY because he REFUSED to play in the hands of those who wanted to use him against his brother. He preferred standing behind prison bars than to stand against his brother,” she wrote on Twitter.

Party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also criticised the move and claimed Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the NAB on the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

She said the government wanted to arrest Shehbaz Sharif before the Gilgit-Baltistan elections to rig the polls. She said that Shehbaz’s arrest was an attempt to sabotage the APC (All Party Conference).

“We are not afraid of these tactics and will face all odds bravely,” she said, adding that it was an attempt to subdue the voices of the opposition since the past two years. “I would like to convey this to the PML-N supporters that your leadership is valiant and is facing all odds in the face of adversity,” she added.

A large number of PML-N party workers had reached the court to show support and chanted slogans in his favour. Immediately after his arrest, a scuffle broke out between the PML-N activists and security personnel.

A two-judge bench of the LHC had on Thursday extended Shehbaz’s interim bail in the same case till September 28.

In December, last year, the anti-graft watchdog had issued orders to freeze 23 properties owned by former Punjab chief minister and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, over claims they had acquired assets beyond their known sources of income and committed money-laundering.

According to the NAB, an investigation against Shehbaz, Hamza, Suleman, and others had revealed that the PML-N president had acquired properties in the name of his wives Nusrat and Tehmina Durrani.

Among the frozen properties were nine plots in Lahore’s Johar Town, four in Judicial Colony, two houses in Model Town, and some others in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

Moreover, the anti-corruption body had also frozen a cottage and a villa in Pir Sohawa, as well as two plots in Chiniot.