LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif in assets beyond means case.
As per details, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed the news on Tuesday evening. Asif has been taken into custody in the backdrop of an ongoing investigation into allegations of him possessing assets beyond known sources of income.
Aurangzeb said Asif was arrested from near PML-N general secretary Ahsan Iqbal’s house. According to sources, a consultative session of the party was being held to debate whether PML-N will take part in Senate elections. Following the meeting, when Asif was on his way back, he was arrested near Iqbal’s residence.
The spokesperson of NAB said the PML-N leader had earlier been summoned for an investigation, however; he failed to provide the required evidence.
Asif held an iqama (work permit) from 2004 to 2008, adding that he earned a total of Rs136 million for his services as a consultant legal adviser, the spokesperson added.
In 2019, NAB and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had started action against the close confidant of former premier Nawaz Sharif on the allegation of illegally establishing a housing project in his hometown Sialkot.
According to NAB, evidence shows Asif established the Kent Housing Society, which has been operating illegally. In November 2020, NAB had sought records from him regarding sources and local amount of funds invested in the project by him, his family members (wife and son) and other partners/close relatives.
Asif had in collusion with the management of the society illegally occupied different pieces of land owned by individuals who never sold their land to the society, according to NAB.
Reacting to the development, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in a tweet condemned the arrest, terming it a part of “the nexus of the selectors and the selected”.
“Such ham-fisted acts reflect the government’s state of panic, but they are moving even closer to their end through such actions,” he wrote.
خواجہ آصف کی گرفتاری سلیکٹرز اور سلیکٹڈ کے گٹھ جوڑ کا انتہائی قابل مذمت واقعہ ہے۔ ایسی بھونڈی حرکتوں سے حکومتی بوکھلاہٹ کا اندازہ لگایا جاسکتا ہے لیکن ان حرکتوں سے یہ اپنے انجام کو مزید قریب لا رہے ہیں۔ اندھے سیاسی انتقام کے دن گنے جا چکے ہیں۔
— Nawaz Sharif (@NawazSharifMNS) December 29, 2020
