Bureau Report
LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday postponed investigation in an illegal land transfer case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz after party workers accompanying her convoy attacked the police officials and attempted to remove the barriers placed outside the anti-graft watchdog’s headquarter.
Television footage revealed men in plain clothes pelting stones at the police, who were also seen attacking some PML-N workers with batons, water cannons and tear gas. Numerous television channels also displayed footage and photographs of cars, purportedly part of the PML-N caravan, loaded with bags full of stones.
According to details, PML-N loyalists and the police clashed after the former attacked the security officials with stones upon the arrival of the PML-N leader. In response, the police started firing into the air to disperse the crowd. Several protestors were also arrested, reports suggest. According to a PML-N spokesperson, at least 50 workers were arrested by police during the incident. “Police threw stones at my car breaking its windscreen. I came here [to the NAB office] to cooperate with you. Now, why did you summon me if you were so scared [of me]? Muster courage to listen to me,” Sharif.
Sharif was due to be quizzed for her sources of income to acquire a 180-acre land in Raiwind. However, the agency, while postponing the session, decided to file the first information report (FIR) against the party workers.
Responding to the development, the party’s central spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb censured the bureau and police, saying the authorities cannot shatter the courage of party workers by torturing them.
Maryam Nawaz condemned police brutality against PML-N party workers in a tweet saying, “I strongly condemn police shelling, use of tear gas and lathi charge on peaceful party workers who came to show solidarity with me”.
She also shared pictures of party workers who were injured in the clash.
PML-N Punjab president Rana Sanaullah accused police of thrashing party workers and throwing “chemical water” at them.
Addressing reporters, Maryam said that she would not leave without getting her statement recorded and that NAB should not have summoned her if they did not have the courage to listen to her replies. “If you do not have the courage, you should have thought it through before calling me here. After calling me, you turn to shelling and pelting stones on innocent PML-N workers. If I did not have a bullet proof car, think of how much damage would have been caused.”
Later, she left after NAB revealed in a press release that her hearing had been postponed.
