Govt has nothing to do with the arrest

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan on Tuesday said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case. “NAB is an independent institution which is neither under the control of the government nor the latter tries to control it,” he said while addressing a press conference. The minister categorically clarified that he did not meet the NAB chairman or any official and that the government had nothing to do with the arrest of Imran Khan as the Bureau had already issued several notices to the PTI chief in the Al-Qadir Trust case. There were ‘dozens’ of other cases of corruption registered against Imran Khan, which were under trial in courts, he added. The minister said in the Al-Qadir Trust case, about £190 million ( approximately Rs 60 billion) of a “property tycoon” transferred through money laundering were caught in the United Kingdom. The UK government contacted the Pakistani authorities regarding the amount’s return. He said as per law, the amount belonged to the Pakistani nation and should have been deposited in the national exchequer. Instead (the then advisor to the prime minister) Shehzad Akbar acting as a front-man, got formed the Al-Qadir Trust under a deal executed by him, he claimed. The minister said some 458 kanal of land in Sohawa and another 240 kanals in Bani Gala were registered in the name of Al-Qadir Trust. Some seven to eight months ago he (Rana Sanaullah) had provided details of the two properties and had challenged the PTI chief to clarify that Al-Qadir Trust was established by Imran Khan himself to hide his corruption, he added. Rana Sanaullah said the PTI chief and his wife Bushra Bibi were the only two trustees of the Al-Qadir Trust. He said the 240 kanals of land in Bani Gala, worth around Rs 5-7 billion, was got registered in the name of Farah Gogi, a close friend of Imran Khan’s wife, while Shehzad Akbar had also taken Rs 2 billion for his services. He said instead of bringing Rs 60 billion into the national treasury, the amount landed in the bank account of the Supreme Court, where the accused property tycoon was under trial. The amount was, in fact, returned to the accused in a complex manner to hoodwink the masses, he added. Even the apex court, he said, also did not question the source of the amount and why it was returned to Pakistan by the UK. “It is regrettable that at that time when this corruption was committed and permission was taken for Shehzad Akbar to go to the UK court and give a statement on behalf of the Pakistani Government for the amount to be adjusted in the property tycoon’s account, Imran Khan was instituting false corruption cases against opposition leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and all family members of Shehbaz Sharif,” he added. On impediments to the arrest of Imran Khan, he said lawyers had attempted to condemn Imran Khan’s arrest. It did not befit them to try to become an obstacle in a legal process, he said, adding the security forces personnel present at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had executed the arrest warrants of the PTI chief in a befitting manner. Regarding the Toshakhana case, the minister said it was also proven that he (Imran) committed theft when false cases were being filed against former premier Nawaz Sharif and his family. He said NAB had issued notices to the PTI chief regarding the corruption cases registered against him and directed him to appear before the Authority and should become a part of the investigation. “It was necessary for him to present himself before NAB and give answers but he did not do so. He challenged those notices in the High Court, which ultimately said the [legal] process in accordance with law cannot be stopped and he [Imran Khan] should become a part of the investigation and submit his response but despite that, he did not feel it appropriate to become part of the investigation. Due to this today, NAB had to implement his arrest warrants.” The minister said soon after the arrest of the PTI chief, the high court had taken notice of the matter and the government had no complaint about it. He denied that Imran Khan was tortured or subjected to a physical assault. To a question, he said had NAB played an active role then Shehzad Akbar could have been apprehended as per the law. He categorically said the Federal Government and all the provincial governments had been directed to take strict action as per law against the violators if any untoward situation was created by the PTI protesters. Replying to another query, he accused the PTI chairman of conjugating a nexus with inimical forces to harm the state institutions. “Not only Imran Khan but also some other PTI leaders and workers are also involved in damaging the national institutions.”