Maryam Nawaz arrested by NAB in sugar mills case

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a sugar mills case.

The anti-corruption body took the PML-N leader into custody on Thursday from outside Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail where she had gone to meet her jailed father former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

A cousin of Maryam, Yousaf Abbas, has also been arrested by the anti-graft body in the case. According to a NAB statement, Maryam was taken into custody after she failed to respond to the anti-corruption watchdog’s reminders to appear in the money laundering and Chaudhry Sugar Mills cases.

On the directives of the NAB chairman, the press release said, a team of doctors would conduct a medical examination of Maryam Nawaz and Yousaf Abbas. Both would be presented before an accountability court on Friday (today) for remand. After the arrest, Maryam was taken to the NAB office in Lahore, which has been declared sub-jail.

Maryam had been summoned by the NAB on Thursday for questioning in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. According to reports, she had informed the NAB that she would not be appearing as she had to meet her father. The PML-N leader had appeared before the NAB on July 31 and recorded her statement in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif has condemned the arrest of Maryam Nawaz. In a statement, he said incompetent leaders were taking the country towards a path of destruction. He questioned the intention of arresting Maryam before Eidul Azha. “What type of accountability or justice is this that the news comes before the arrest,” the PML-N chief said.

Maryam’s detention sparked a walkout by opposition legislators at the National Assembly on Thursday. “Today in this new Pakistan, Ms Maryam Nawaz has been arrested without any conviction so I am walking out of this house,” announced Bilawal Bhutto, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, during an address to parliament.

Maryam’s arrest comes just a day after authorities took former finance minister Miftah Ismail into custody on graft charges. Last month, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former president Asif Ali Zardari were also arrested.—Agencies/News Desk