Agha Siraj Durrani sent on physical remand till March 1
The Sindh Assembly speaker was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
KARACHI (Dunya News) - An accountability court on Thursday (today) sent Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani on physical remand till March 1 after his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and funds embezzlement cases.
He was produced before the accountability court amid tight security measures.
According to sources, the NAB implored the court to grant 14-day physical remand of Durrani for further investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party senior leaders, including members of the provincial cabinet, staged a sit-in outside the residence of SA Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in protest against the NAB’s raid on his home after his arrest.
The leaders have expressed strong concerns over his arrest and have been terming it ‘undemocratic’.
Importantly, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has called a consultative meeting of the parliamentary party of the PPP to discuss the situation.
It is likely that the whole provincial assembly will lodge a strong protest against the arrest of the speaker.
Officials of the accountability watchdog had yesterday raided his home in Karachi during a search operation that irked Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members of the Sindh Cabinet.
Earlier, accountability court had sent Durrani on a three-day transit remand after the NAB arrested him during investigation into assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and funds embezzlement charges.
He owns properties in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur while he could not provide satisfactory response to the ongoing investigation by NAB officials.
The NAB had also obtained the required information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and found that the properties and companies have been named after him and his 11 family members.
The speaker was taken into custody from a hotel in Islamabad’s Red Zone area.
It is pertinent to mention that the NAB had approved an inquiry against Durrani over various allegations of corruption in July, 2018.
