Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the LNG corruption case. He was traveling from Lahore when a 12 member NAB team stopped him at Thokar Niaz Baig Interchange for the arrest. He asked the officers to produce a valid arrest warrant to take him into custody as he claimed himself to be a free man. The whole incident was recorded and published by PML-N leader Maryam Aurangzeb, who accompanied her in the same vehicle. After an initial medical checkup, he is being moved to NAB’s Rawalpindi office.
Abbasi was being called by the Accountability Court, and several calls to appear in the court were ignored by claiming that he was busy. Bureau officials arrested him on a photocopy of a document which said that “Abbasi is accused of commission of the offense of corruption and corrupt practices under Section 9(a) of National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.”. Besides the usual criticism on the government and especially on Prime Minister Imran Khan, the opposition also reprimanded the authorities over producing a photocopy of the document used for arrest.
While in Karachi, the NAB team raided the residence of former finance minister Muftah Ismail, to take him into custody as well. Unfortunately, the team left empty-handed as he was not found. Officials asked his family for necessary details and later his office address was also raided.
To condemn the arrest and attempt to arrest of fellow members, Opposition Leader of the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif held a press conference and said, “We strongly protest Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s arrest. The institution of NAB has become Imran Khan’s puppet. Our spirits cannot be wavered by such cheap tactics,”
Abbasi has been nominated in LNG scandal in which the contracts were allegedly awarded to likeminded companies for kickbacks.
It’s been said that more PML-N leaders are likely to be arrested soon, which may include female leaders. On the other side, Maryam Nawaz will also be appearing before the honorable court over ‘fake trust deed’ case in which ‘Calibri’ font was used before it was operational.