By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday from the anti-corruption watchdog’s Rawalpindi chapter’s office where he had appeared to record his statement in the case regarding alleged corruption in Narowal Sports City (NSC) Project. NAB confirmed the ar- rest in a statement, adding that a team of doctors has been called for the PML-N MNA’s medical assessment. Iqbal will be produced be- fore an accountability court tomorrow, where NAB will ask for his physical remand.
Iqbal is accused of using funds of the federal government and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for a sports city being established in Narowal a multi-billion project.
The PML-N leader had said he had submitted documents related to his income and expenditures to Rawal- Pindi NAB. The opposition leader had already replied to a questionnaire given to him by the bureau in connection with the same case.
Speaking to the media before heading to NAB, Iqbal had said that when PML-N came to power in 2013, he, as planning minister, had taken up several projects that were incomplete and NSC was one of them. He said that the funds spent on the project were approved by the cabinet, parliament and the National Economic Council. He explained that the amount of money spent on NSC had exceeded its original cost because when the project was taken up again, the plan was revised and the project was expanded.
Yesterday, he had said that before Pakistan Tehreek- i-Insaf (PTI) came to power, the project of NSC was 90 percent complete, but the present government had turned it into ruins.
He said that the AstroTurf (artificial grass) was imported for the ground in the sports city. It was to be laid within six months.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Monday strongly condemned the arrest of party’s senior leader Ahsan Iqbal and declared it a proof of NAB-Niazi coalition. Shehbaz Sharif said that the arrest of someone, who strengthened the friendship of China and Pakistan and worked for the China–Pakistan. Economic Corridor (CPEC), is condemnable and tragic. “The apprehension of Ahsan Iqbal is aimed at saving the government’s incompetence from being exposed to the public,” he added.
He said Ahsan Iqbal was performing political activities to reorganize the party and highlight the problems of the people across the country. “The arrest is one of the worst instances of political retaliation,” he maintained.
The PML-N President asserted that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has gone blind in political vendetta. He said that the incumbent government is not sending a good message by detaining those who served the people of Pakistan with honesty, hard work, and patriotism.
Shehbaz Sharif expressed that every soldier, activist, and worker of PML- N would not get afraid of NAB-Niazi nexus and will keep standing beside the truth. He further added that they will keep exposing hostile policies of the current government. He said that no jail and the false case can stop them from defending the rights of the people. “The government has failed to protect the interests of the country and the people, so it is busy attracting attention through political revenge,” he expressed, adding that the incumbent government should pay heed to national issues rather than imprisonment of political opponents. Shehbaz Sharif termed the government’s stance on prohibiting Maryam Nawaz from flying abroad as fascism, and hoped for justice from the court. On the other hand, he also strongly criticized the Indian government and expressed that the current situation in India is a reflection of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mentality. “Imran Khan is the one who tried to befriend such a person [Modi],” he added. Shehbaz Sharif said that the Modi government is executing the worst kind of barbarism in Kashmir. The PML-N president said that PM Imran is not capable of stopping ongoing atrocities in the occupied valley, and his refusal to attend the Kuala Lumpur summit is a reflection of his stubbornness. He asserted that the policies of the incumbent government have utterly failed.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb reacting to the arrest of former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday has slammed the government. Addressing a press conference here, Marryium Aurangzeb alleged NAB of working on the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan and termed the Ahsan’s arrest outcome of NAB-Niazi nexus. “They should be ashamed of arresting a man who had an operation three days ago,” she said.
The PML-N spokesperson said that the Narowal Sports Complex was initiated in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) tenure and was facing several irregularities. “The PML-N after coming into power revived the project and Ahsan played a crucial part in its renovation,” she added.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the party will continue calling out the incompetence of the incumbent government,
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The NAB said it arrested the PMLN leader in relation to the Narowal Sports City Complex case. The NAB
Rawalpindi chapter had summoned Iqbal in relation to the case today. In July 2018, the NAB had begun the investigation of the complex that has
been raised with a whopping amount of over Rs3,000 million
