Abbasi, Ahsan challenging NAB claim about tangible question

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister and senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former federal minister and secretary general of the PML-N Prof Ahsan Iqbal, are challenging the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s claim pertaining to having any tangible question to them in the lock-up before their release last week.

The sources close to both the leaders told The News here Friday evening that they were aware that whenever any official, including the NAB investigators, visited them in the detention, the whole video/audio recording was made by the bureau through hidden cameras.

It is a known exercise in the detention centres of NAB. The recording was made to produce not only to NAB high ups but also presented to their political masters to please them, the sources maintained. Prof Ahsan Iqbal, who is proceeding to his native city Narowal where a rousing welcome by the people of the city is awaiting tomorrow (Sunday) told this scribe that none of the National Accountability Bureau official concern had meeting with him during his detention in Adyala prison where he was in judicial lock-up while earlier in a month long captivity of NAB in its centre, NAB officials interviewed him in bit and pieces, but the whole exercise was not beyond an hour totally.

He made it clear that he has no objection if the questioning that was recorded clandestinely by the National Accountability Bureau if made public. As far the question-answer in black and white is concerned, it was done even before the arrest and hopefully National Accountability Bureau under the instruction of its political bosses would continue as long it could do even now.

Prof Ahsan Iqbal is returning to the federal capital on Monday (March 2). He will be having meeting with JUI leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman with whom he already had spoken on phone the other day. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Prof Ahsan Iqbal have hectic political scheduled for the upcoming month.

A grand convention of the PML-N workers is being planned next week and preparations for the purpose would be carried out under the supervision of the two leaders. Both the leaders in constant contact with their leadership in London, the sources added.