Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau gets custody of former PM Imran for eight days
NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was on Wednesday handed over to the National Accountability Bureau for eight days, a day after the bureau got the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief arrested in the Al-Qadir University Trust case, triggering violent protests.
The Al-Qadir case alleges Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees for their trust from property tycoon Malik Riaz in exchange of favours, causing huge losses to the exchequer. Separately, Khan was indicted in the Toshakhana corruption case, in which he is charged with selling the expensive gifts he received as prime minister in violation of rules.
Hearings of the two cases were held in a make-shift court in Islamabad Police Lines. During the hearing, Imran Khan reportedly told the court that he feared for his life. “I don’t want what happened to Maqsood Ahmad (money laundering accused who died under mysterious circumstances in UAE). They give an injection and the person dies slowly,’’ sources quoted Khan as saying in the court.
Violent clashes continued on Wednesday. According to reports, seven persons have been killed and 300 injured in the clashes. The army is out in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Police have arrested over 1,150 PTI activists in Punjab alone. There were rumours of top PTI leaders including Shah Mehmood Qureshi being arrested but the former foreign minister came on Twitter to deny the reports.
Meanwhile, 32 Indian Bridge (card deck game) players are in Lahore for a tournament being hosted by the Bridge Federation of Pakistan. Palestine, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan and Bangladesh are participating in the tournament, which will conclude on May 13.
Indian Bridge players in Pak asked to leave
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad has advised the 32 Bridge players currently in Lahore for a tournament, to immediately return to the country in view of the fluid situation in Pakistan