The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.
As per initial details, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader was taken into custody from a private hotel in Islamabad and moved to the anti-graft body’s headquarters.
A NAB statement said the arrest was executed by a team of NAB Karachi with the assistance of the anti-graft body’s Rawalpindi bureau and intelligence wing.
The statement said the PPP leader stands accused of accumulating assets beyond known sources of income and would be presented in an accountability court for remand on Thursday.
Last year, NAB initiated three separate inquiries against Durrani for allegedly owning assets beyond means and illegally recruiting 352 individuals for various government positions.
Reports suggest he had persistently failed to cooperate with the anti-graft body’s investigators, missing hearings despite summons and also ignoring a questionnaire given by NAB.
Over the course of the investigation, NAB’s combined investigation team (CIT) had sent letters to the deputy commissioners of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Shikarpur seeking details of the properties owned by Durrani and 11 other members of his family.
NAB sought details of their bank accounts and forwarded their names and CNIC numbers to the State Bank of Pakistan and other private banks.
According to sources, NAB officials also wrote letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and sought details of business entities owned by Durrani and his family members.
Considered one of the closest aides to former president Asif Ali Zardari, Durrani has served in various capacities in PPP’s successive provincial governments, most recently being re-elected as Sindh Assembly speaker in August 2018.
Demands for release and resignation
The PPP strongly condemned Durrani’s arrest and termed it an ‘attack’ on the sanctity of the Sindh Assebmly. “This is an illegal arrest. He must be released without any delay,” said a spokesperson for Bilawal House, Karachi.
Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh chief minister’s adviser on information, questioned the legitimacy of Durrani’s arrest.
“He [Durrani] is already facing inquiries. How can someone be arrested before their crime is proven?” said Wahab.
He also accused the federal government and NAB of colluding to target political opponents. “The prime minister, National Assembly speakers and several federal ministers are also facing NAB inquiries. Will they be treated in the same manner as opposition leaders have been over recent months?”
On the other hand, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wasted little time in demanding Durrani’s resignation as Sindh Assembly speaker.
PTI’s Sindh lawmaker, Khurram Sher Zaman, said the PPP leader was morally obligated to leave his post till the investigation was completed.
