Pakistan's accountability bureau raids home of Shehbaz Sharif to arrest son

LAHORE: Pakistan’s anti-graft agency on Friday raided the house of leader of the opposition Mian Shehbaz Sharif in the eastern city of Lahore to arrest his son Hamza Shehbaz in two cases related to money laundering and possession of assets beyond means.
The raid at 96- H Model Town, one of the ancestral homes of the Sharif family, was unsuccessful as private guards and party loyalists present at the scene scuffled with inspectors and tore their clothes, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said in a statement.
The bureau says it had arrest warrants for Shehbaz, who is a legislator in the Punjab provincial assembly, and the Supreme Court had made it clear that the anti-graft body did not need to inform suspects prior to their arrests.
“Therefore, there has been a clear violation of the law by Hamza Shehbaz,” the statement said. “Those who interfere in NAB’s legal action and the operations of the state will be proceeded against as per the law.”
Malik Muhammad Ahmed, the spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party of which Shehbaz Sharif is the president, said the NAB inspectors did not have arrest warrants.
Speaking to media after the unsuccessful raid, Hamza Shehbaz also reiterated that NAB officials came without warrants and had violated the sanctity of his home.
“I have a court order saying that I will be informed 10 days prior to arrest,” he said. “For the first time, I felt like we are terrorists, the way the raid was conducted,” he added, saying he had always cooperated with NAB authorities and appeared before the body whenever was summoned.
“What was the need for this step?” Shehbaz said. “I am not afraid of arrest but NAB used unlawful tactics because the government asked it to.”
Shahbaz Gill, a spokesman for the Punjab government, said NAB was an autonomous institution and did not require the government’s permission to carry out any action.
NAB has now summoned Sharif and his two sons, Hamza Shehbaz and Salman Shehbaz, to file their replies in the money laundering and possession of assets beyond means cases on April 9.
Shehbaz Sharif was arrested last October in a longstanding corruption case nine days before crucial by-elections were due to be held. His brother, ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison by a NAB court after the Supreme Court removed him from power.
Nawaz Sharif has denounced corruption cases against him and his party’s leaders as politically motivated, and both brothers deny any wrongdoing.

Pakistan's accountability bureau raids home of Shehbaz Sharif to arrest son