NAB rearrests Parvez Elahi in bribery case after release from Adiala Jail

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) re-arrested PTI President Parvez Elahi for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for contracts for development projects, moments after he was freed from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, Aaj News reported on Sunday.

The PTI president, who is also a former Punjab chief minister, was initially detained on June 1 in connection with a corruption investigation. The following day, he was released from custody in that case only to be detained in another.

Elahi was imprisoned under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance for 30 days in the middle of July after being ordered to be freed from Lahore's Camp Jail, where he was being held in connection with a money laundering case.

Elahi was taken into custody from the Adiala Jai by the Lahore NAB team after the MPO detention was finished today.

Elahi's legal team would challenge the arrest before the Lahore High Court (LHC), according to his lawyer, who described the detention as political.

Elahi was subsequently brought before a Rawalpindi sessions court by the Lahore NAB, where NAB prosecutors Raffay Malik and Sardar Tahir Ayub demanded that he be placed in a two-day transitory detention order so that the PTI leader could be shifted to Lahore.

The Lahore NAB was only given a temporary remand for one day, and the judge ordered Investigation Officer Najam Abbas to bring Elahi to the appropriate court "in safe custody" by tomorrow.

A court ruling states that on August 11 an arrest warrant was issued for the PTI leader in connection with the relevant investigation.

Elahi is one of the co-accused in a case involving receiving bribes/kickbacks in order to have the "contracts of road schemes of Gujrat Highways Division awarded to favorite/hand-picked contractors."

According to Section 9(a) of the NAB ordinance, 1999, it is also alleged that the co-accused "involved in causing loss to the government exchequer to the tune of millions of rupees against receipt of commission/kickbacks and committed offences of corruption and corrupt practices."