News Desk |
The Lahore High Court (LHC) accepted on Monday, 8th April, the plea of Leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz and extended his interim bail till April 17, to avoid being arrested by the National Accountability Bureau.
Hamza Shahbaz presented himself before the court amid strict security and was represented by Advocate Amjad Pervez. Judge Malik Shahzad accepted the bail petition of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader and abstained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Hamza until further notice, local press reported.
Mohammad Mushtaq alias Chini, whose name had been on the Exit Control List ever since Shahbaz Sharif was arrested last year, was attempting to escape to Dubai, press quoted an official of the FIA.
The high court has directed Hamza to submit bail bonds worth Rs10 million. The court has also sought a detailed reply from NAB. Following the raid of NAB which took place twice at the PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif’s house last week, Hamza had filed a petition in the high court requesting it to bar the bureau from arresting him. The LHC accepted the petition and had fixed the date for April 8th (today) to hear the petition.
In an interlinked development, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday apprehended and offloaded a manager of the Ramzan Sugar Mills and took him into custody from the Lahore airport, sources in FIA told local press.
Mohammad Mushtaq alias Chini, whose name had been on the Exit Control List ever since Shahbaz Sharif was arrested last year, was attempting to escape to Dubai, press quoted an official of the FIA. He was offloaded from Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-203. According to sources quoted, Mushtaq’s name was placed on the ECL on the request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The suspect will be handed over to NAB.
Read more: Hamza hiding behind family to evade arrest: Fawad Chaudhry
Mushtaq is suspected to be a front man for someone from the Sharif family, an official said and had gone underground after National Assembly Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif was arrested. His arrest could mean conclusive evidence in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case against the Sharif family, experts say.