Dr Asim remanded in NAB custody till January 5

KARACHI: An Accountability Court on Wednesday permitted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to interrogate Dr Asim Hussain under physical remand till January 5.

Dr Asim Hussain was sent by an anti-terrorism court (ATC-III) to the central prison on judicial custody till December 30 in the case of the provision of medical facilities to those accused of terrorism. In the cases being interrogated by NAB, it was claimed that as a former federal minister for petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain had misappropriated huge funds and had caused a loss of around Rs452m to the national exchequer.

According to sources in NAB, Dr Asim Hussain had showed his agreement to withdraw from the lands allotted to his hospital and trust.

The attorney for Dr Asim Hussain strongly opposed the

plea of NAB for granting further remand saying that Dr Asim Hussain was interrogated 18 times by NAB and now it was unfair to allow remand at the request of the investigation officer of NAB.

The NAB IO had mentioned the JIT report where the accused had confessed to several crimes causing loss to the national exchequer. The attorney argued that it was unfair to hold interrogation under the name of JIT.

The accountability court, however, allowed physical remand till January 5.

The NAB investigators would hold an interrogation in the central prison as the ATC concerned (headed by Khalida Yaseen) had already directed the investigators to keep Dr Asim Hussain under detention at the central prison till December 30 and hold the interrogation over there.

Dr Asim Hussain had been produced on Tuesday before the ATC (II) headed by Khalida Yaseen. A day earlier, the Administrative Judge of the ATCs, Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, had directed the police to produce Dr Asim Hussain before the ATC (II) for trial. The justice had rejected the police report seeking the release of Dr Asim, the Chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission, and had ordered to try him in the ATC-II headed by Khalida Yaseen.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) had also rejected the stance of the police that no proof was found that could involve Dr Asim Hussain in a case of harbouring terrorists by providing them medical treatment at his hospital.

The justice, while rejecting the stance of Investigation Officer (IO) DSP Altaf Hussain that Dr Asim appeared to be innocent and his case should be declared as ‘A-class’, observed that “prima facie, there is sufficient incriminating evidence and material against Dr Asim Hussain and other accused persons to connect” them to the commission of the alleged crime.