NAB moves PML-N’s Khawaja Asif to Lahore

0
67

Islamabad, 30th December: PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan was behind his arrest in an attempt to weaken the party leader Nawaz Sharif. 

Baaghi TV: According to reports, Khawaja Asif was arrested by NAB on Tuesday night from outside the residence of another senior PML-N leader, Ahsan Iqbal, in a case pertaining to acquiring assets beyond means of income.

PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, who was also present in the meeting at the party by their secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal, alleged that NAB had acted like a terrorist and kidnapped Asif in the darkness of night.

While talking to the reporters outside the accountability court in Islamabad today, Asif claimed that attempts have been made to break the party in the last two-and-a-half years.

As per reports, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team left with Khawaja Muhammad Asif, from Islamabad to Lahore after obtaining his transit remand from an Islamabad accountability court on Wednesday.

NAB had earlier presented a detailed charge sheet on Tuesday against Asif that it was carrying out investigations against the PML-N leader under Clause 4 of the NAB Ordinance 1999 and Section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.

“Before assuming the public office in 1991, the total worth of Khawaja Asif’s assets was Rs5.1 million which increased to Rs221m in 2018 after serving on different posts which do not match with his known sources of income,” says the statement.

“Accused Khawaja Asif claimed to have received Rs 130m from a UAE firm M/s IMECO, but during the course of the investigation, he failed to present any solid evidence of receiving this amount as a salary,” it said, adding: “This clearly shows that the accused tried to prove his income through fake sources.”

Moreover, according to reports from Dawn News, NAB alleged that Asif was also running a Benami firm ‘Tariq Mir and Company’ which was registered in the name of his employee. It said that an amount of Rs 400m was deposited in the account of Tariq Mir and no sources of this huge amount were disclosed.

Asif was presented before accountability in Islamabad, where Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon, counsel for Khawaja Asif contended that his client should be released as the case against him had no grounds.

Jadoon said an inquiry against Asif had been initiated and then closed by the NAB’s Rawalpindi chapter in 2018, adding that in fact a case could be registered against the NAB.

He informed the court that the NAB had not provided him with arrest warrants, nor were the grounds for the arrest shared. The court then directed the NAB to provide Asif’s counsel with the arrest warrant and grounds for the arrest.

PML-N leaders Marriyum Aurangzeb and Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha were allowed to meet Asif at the court.

A strong reaction from PML-N has been prompted following the dramatic arrest of Khawaja Asif.

Stay tuned to Baaghi TV to read further updates!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a reply