Siraj Durrani sent to prison in corruption reference

KARACHI: An Accountability Court here on Monday sent the Pakistan People's Party leader and Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Khan Durrani to prison in a corruption reference.

The speaker Sindh assembly was produced before the court after rejection of his bail from the Supreme Court. The special prosecutor NAB submitted that the accused had been arrested from Islamabad and requested the court to remand him to the judicial custody as no further remand was required in the case. The court, while granting the request, sent the speaker Sindh Assembly to prison.

Talking to journalists after the court hearing, Siraj Durrani said neither he escaped nor went into hiding but had approached the Supreme Court to get interim relief. Durrani said that he hadn’t so far seen the provincial local government amendment bill recently passed by the Sindh Assembly and will be in a position to comment on it after seeing its draft.

The Sindh Assembly speaker said he was not under any pressure to leave the Pakistan People’s Party. He said that he was a loyal worker of late Benazir Bhutto and did not escape from trial proceedings.