LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday extended judicial remand of former defence minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif in an inquiry of assets beyond means and money laundering till June 17. The jail officials brought Asif to the court from a hospital where he had been admitted for medical treatment.

Earlier the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials informed the court that investigations against Khawaja Asif were still going on after which a reference will be filed. Duty Judge Sajjad Ahmad Sheikh adjourned hearing till next hearing and directed the NAB to complete its reference without delay. The NAB had arrested the minister from Islamabad on December 29 last and later shifted him to Lahore.

The former minister is a sitting MNA from NA-73, Sialkot. The NAB alleged that Asif failed to explain the sources of his income and assets. It said the suspect was first elected as senator in 1991 when his assets were around Rs 05 million. It said the assets of the suspect swelled to Rs 221 million by 2018, which were beyond known sources of his income.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021