NAB granted physical remand of Sindh Assembly speaker till March 1

An accountability court in Karachi granted on Thursday the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seven-day physical remand of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader was brought to the court amid high security as a large number of his supporters gathered outside the premises, local media reported. During the hearing, NAB requested the court to grant a 14-day physical remand of the speaker.

Durrani's lawyer said that Durrani's house had been raided by the bureau and the officials had misbehaved with the women. The court however, granted NAB physical remand of Durrani till March 1.

The Sindh assembly speaker was arrested by the bureau on Wednesday in a case pertaining to him having assets beyond known sources of income. The PPP leader was arrested at a private hotel in Islamabad. NAB Karachi had collaborated with NAB Rawalpindi and carried out the plan to arrest the PPP leader.

Soon after his arrest, the bureau had presented Durrani before an accountability court to seek his seven-day transit remand. However, the court dismissed the week-long remand requested and granted a three-day transit remand. The court had ordered that the speaker be produced before the relevant court in Karachi and that a medical checkup should also be conducted of the PPP leader.

Last year, NAB had initiated three separate cases against Durrani for allegedly owning assets beyond means, illegal appointments, and embezzlement of funds in construction.