Khudayar Mohla –
Top anti-graft body on Wednesday apprehended opposition leader and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah in a case relating to assets beyond his known sources of income.
Shah, the member of lower house from NA-206 (Sukkur-I) Sindh, was arrested at his residence in Islamabad in a joint operation conducted by NAB’s Sukkur and Rawalpindi teams says the sources. Syed Khurshid Shah doesn’t belong to traditional politicians family of Sindh but his continuous struggle in political arena, bridged up the gap and he become member of the lower house without bothering criticism that he once was meter reader in Wapda during early days of practical life.
According to reports, Shah was arrested for having assets beyond means and would be presented before a NAB court in Sukkur on Thursday. He is facing charges of getting an amenity plot in a housing society, had some benami properties in the name of his front men or servants.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been reported that an inquiry against Shah revealed his involvement in the commission of offences as defined under Section 9(a) and Schedule of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
It is pertinent to mention that before taking Shah into custody the NAB had apprehended many other opposition leaders including former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, Maryam Nawaz, incumbent leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz under graft charges.
It has been reported that a day before his arrest Shah had demanded removal of the Prime Minister Khan for having failed to run the country affairs whereas Shad supported joint opposition’s call for lockdown of Islamabad next month- Shah has been quoted saying, “The tradition of lockdown was set by Prime Minister Imran Khan”.
The reports said that the Sukkur NAB summoned Shah on Wednesday in the cases but he had informed the Bureau in writing that he could not appear before the Bureau’s investigators in Sukkur due to some engagements in Islamabad.
However, the NAB issued warrants for Shah while apprehending him during a joint raid on his residence in Islamabad on the grounds that Shah being a public office-holder got transferred an amenity plot at Professors’ Cooperative Housing Society, Sukkur, in the name of his family to build a house and the money spent on its construction did not commensurate with his known sources of income and those of his dependents.
Chairman of the NAB retired Justice Javed Iqbal has been reported to say while presiding over a meeting in the NAB headquarters on Wednesday that elimination of corruption was the top most priority of the watchdog.
