Lahore: A team of Pakistan’s top anti-graft body the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has quizzed deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat Jail for over two hours over the illegal purchase and use of more than 30 bulletproof government vehicles from Germany.
A four-member NAB team arrived at the Kot Lakhpat Jail (Lahore Central Prison) where the 69-year-old Sharif is serving a seven-year sentence awarded to him in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case. Sharif insisted upon being given a questionnaire, to which he would reply with the help of his legal counsel according to the ‘Dawn’ newspaper. .
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Nawaz’s daughter, confirmed the investigation by the NAB. In a message on her Twitter account, Maryam rubbished the investigation, and pointed fingers at ‘fake Prime Minister’ Imran Khan who used the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s helicopter for personal use. She asked whether he was above the law.
The anti-graft body said the cars were purchased without duty for guests of the 19th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit in 2016, ‘Geo News’ reported.
The SAARC Summit, however, did not take place as India boycotted the meeting after the Uri terror attack. Later, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives also pulled out of the summit, culminating in an indefinite postponement of the summit.
According to the NAB, Sharif added 20 of those 34 cars to his own motorcade, and he and his daughter Maryam Nawaz also used the bulletproof vehicles for their personal use.
PTI