Khursheed Shah, 12 co-accused indicted

SUKKUR: The accountability court in Sukkur on Monday indicted Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former leader of the opposition Syed Khursheed Shah in an assets beyond corruption reference of Rs1.23 billion.

The accountability court Sukkur’s Judge, Fareed Anwar Qazi, here on Monday heard the reference case against the former leader of the opposition Syed Khursheed Shah and 17 co-accused. The defence counsel of Shah, Advocate Muekesh Kumar, and Prosecutor NAB Sukkur Malik Zubair argued for their respective clients. Later, the judge of Accountability Court indicted Syed Khursheed Shah along with 12 co-accused, including his two wives, sons Farukh Shah, Zerak Shah, his two nephews, inclduing Sindh Minister for Transport, Syed Owais Qadir Shah, Junaid Qadir Shah, Akram Pathan, Saqib Awan, Tufail Pathan and others.The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court adjourned the case for December 11 and ordered the NAB prosecutor to produce all the witnesses. Shah was arrested in a joint operation by NAB Rawalpindi and Sukkur on September 18, 2019 from Islamabad.

Talking to the media, Khursheed Shah claimed the reference was politically motivated and he and his family were being victimized. He said that not a single charge against him had been proved by NAB. The PPP leader said he was not afraid of jails and trumped-up corruption charges. He challenged NAB to investigate the cases of the PTI leadership with properties in Dubai, Murree and other cities.

Talking about the PDM Multan rally, Shah said the PTI government was using Covid-19 for political purposes. While it finds no fault with holding rallies, it fears the infection would spread during oppositon rallies. He said the prime minister is scared of opposition rallies gaining momentum.

The PPP leader said instead of focusing on achieving his electoral pledges, the prime minister would be remembered for bad governance, massive unemployment and unleashing massive inflation.