Imran Khan produced before special court; Anti-corruption watchdog seeks remand

Pakistans anticorruption watchdog on Wednesday sought a 14day physical remand of former prime minister Imran Khan as he was produced before a special court inside a high security police facility here for the hearing in a corruption case in which he has been arrestedThe 70yearold former cricketerturnedpolitician was taken into custody by the paramilitary Rangers on Tuesday on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau NAB by barging into a room of the Islamabad High Court where he came to attend a corruption case hearingThe New Police Guest House located in the premises of Police Lines Headquarters at Sector H111 area of Islamabad was declared as a court for the purpose of hearing two cases against KhanThe first case is about AlQadir Trust allegedly causing more than Rs50 billion to the national exchequer Khan was arrested on Tuesday in the caseHe was produced in the AntiAccountability Court No 1 presided by judge Muhammad Bashir the same judge who had convicted former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam in a corruption case of having properties in London Maryam was later on set free in the case by the Islamabad High CourtHowever Sharifs case is still pending in the high court as he failed to appear before the courtAt the start of the hearing the NAB lawyers requested the court to grant a 14day remand of Khan to probe against him the allegation But Khans lawyer opposed the plea and asked the judge to release him as the charges were fabricatedThe judge took a break after the initial hearing and was expected to give his ruling once the hearing would restartKhan would also be presented in the District and Sessions Court where judge Humayun Dilawar would preside over the process The case is about concealing the proceeds from the sale of state gifts and it was filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan last yearElaborate security measures were put in place to stop PTI workers and supporters getting anywhere near the hearing facility Even the media was not allowed to enter the area and even leading PTI leaders were barred from witnessing the hearing or meeting their leaderAlso readMumbai Lost bag with gold cash returned to newlywedsThose not allowed to enter include PTI Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Secretary General Asad Umar The two in protest went to the Islamabad High Court to file a plea against the police decision to stop them from seeing KhanHowever before any legal process was launched Umar was arrested by the antiterrorism squad of Islamabad police as two new cases have been launched against him for the violence by the PTI protests after the arrest of KhanEarlier Qureshi told the media while on his way to the Police Lines that protests were expected after the arrest but he called on the people to remain peaceful Peaceful protest is your constitutional right keep it going But dont take the law into your own hands he saidHe said that since Tuesday he had been calling on protesters to remain peaceful He said that he had told the party supporters that the government was looking for excuses to register fake cases against them They are looking for excuses to pressure you Dont give them the chanceiquest he saidMeanwhile the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority PTA said that internet services across the country will remain suspended for an indefinite period It confirmed that the decision to block mobile broadband services was taken on the directives of the Interior MinistryThe services were shut down as protests erupted after Khans arrestThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever