LHC extends Hamza Shahbaz's interim bail till April 25

NAB officials are also ready to detain Hamza Shahbaz if LHC rejects his bail plea.

LAHORE (Dunya News) – Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday has extended interim bail of Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz till April 25 in an ongoing investigation into assets beyond known sources of income and money laundering case. According to details, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader appeared before the court. Earlier, LHC had granted pre-arrest bail to Hamza Shahbaz for 10 days against Rs10 million surety bonds on a petition he had filed on Saturday to refrain the NAB from arresting him. As the hearing resumed, the court asked NAB’s prosecutor, “In which case the bureau wills to arrest Hamza?” To which, the prosecutor told the court that there were three cases against Hamza; including assets beyond known sources of income, Saaf Pani and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases. However, arrest warrants have not been issued yet in Saaf Pani and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases. Previously, a team of the NAB had swooped on the 96-H house, believed to be Shehbaz Sharif’s residence, allegedly because Hamza Shehbaz was "not cooperating" in the ongoing investigation in the case. Contrarily, the NAB, in a press release, disclosed that its Lahore team had raided the residence for arresting him in the assets beyond means case and a money laundering case. Importantly, the press release noted that the Supreme Court has made it very clear that NAB did not need to inform suspects prior to their arrest. Moreover, the NAB statement maintained, "Therefore, there has been a clear violation of the law by Hamza Shehbaz." "Those who interfere in NAB’s legal action and the operations of the state will be proceeded against as per the law," the statement had read. Besides, a First Information Report (FIR) was also lodged against Hamza Shehbaz’s guards on an application filed by the NAB over the matter that Hamza’s guards had manhandled members of the NAB team, tore their clothes, and threatened their lives.