On Monday (20), Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog summoned Imran Khan’s third wife, Bushra Bibi, in a corruption case.
This comes after a day when a terrorism case was registered against the former Prime Minister and over a dozen leaders of his party for their alleged involvement in vandalism and causing unrest outside the judicial complex in Islamabad.
The clashes erupted on Saturday (18) when Khan, who leads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, arrived in Islamabad from Lahore for a hearing in the Toshakhana case.
Due to the unrest outside the judicial complex, the judge permitted Imran Khan to leave after he signed a register.
However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team visited Khan’s residence in Zaman Park, Lahore, and issued a notice to his wife, Bushra.
She reportedly received a summons on Tuesday. On March (9), the NAB had summoned Khan and his wife to their Rawalpindi office to interrogate them about the Toshakhana case.
However, the hearing for the case has been postponed until March 30 due to the judge’s observation that the conditions are not favourable for holding the hearing.
Khan, aged 70, is facing scrutiny for his alleged purchase of gifts, including a high-priced Graff wristwatch that he had obtained at a discounted rate from the state depository known as Toshakhana during his time as premier, and subsequently selling them at a profit.
In October of last year, he was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan for failing to disclose information regarding these sales. The commission subsequently lodged a complaint with the district court, seeking to prosecute him under criminal law for the act of selling gifts that he had received during his tenure as the country’s prime minister.
Imran’s nephew arrested
Pakistan police arrested Imran Khan’s nephew, Hassan Niazi, and a number of his supporters on Monday for their alleged involvement in the attacks on the security personnel outside a court here over the weekend where the ousted premier arrived from Lahore to appear in the much-awaited hearing in a corruption case.
Monday’s arrests bring the total number of Khan’s followers detained in Islamabad to 198 since Saturday.
(With inputs from PTI)
