Capt (r) Safdar absconds as NAB conducts raids for arrest
The arrest warrants has been obtained from the accountability court
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar, son-in-law of former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif has moved to an undisclosed location as National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) investigation team left for Mansehra to arrest him.
A team of the anti-graft watchdog had left for Mansehra to arrest Capt (r) Safdar Awan, day after he had been convicted in Avenfield reference along with his wife Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif.
The Bureau had contacted caretaker government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seeking help in apprehension of Safdar.
Earlier today, the name of Sharif’s son-in-law was placed on the black list, which means he would be barred from leaving the country.
The step was taken after interior ministry recommended to put names of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (r) Safdar on Exit Control List (ECL).
On Friday, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was convicted and sentenced to prison in absentia by the accountability court, in a verdict that is likely to further disrupt an already chaotic campaign for national elections this month.
The sentence, 10 years in prison and a fine of 8 million pounds, or $10.6 million, came almost a year after Supreme Court removed Sharif from office and less than five months after the court barred him from holding office for life.
The case stemmed from the Panama Papers leak that disclosed expensive and undeclared property owned by the Sharif family in London.
The verdict marked a further fall for the PML-N supremo, who has been Pakistan’s prime minister three times but never completed a term.
From the start of the ex-PM’s legal troubles in 2016, Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif and her husband, Muhammad Safdar, were also convicted, with Maryam sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of 2 million pounds and Safdar sentenced to one year in prison.
The court also ordered the seizure of the Sharif family’s four apartments at Avenfield House, a luxury building next to Hyde Park in London.
