NAB grills Murad in fake bank accounts case

ISLAMABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi in connection with a probe into laundering of billions of rupees through fake bank accounts, ARY News reported.

The chief minister appeared at NAB’s old headquarters in Rawalpindi where a six-member team of the bureau grilled him for over one and a half hour. Strict security arrangements were made to deter any untoward incident.

Speaking to the media after emerging from the NAB office, Shah said he was questioned about Thatta sugar mills, adding he answered all questions put to him by the bureau’s team.

He lamented that he was being subjected to media trial despite the Supreme Court’s order which said he and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari were innocent.

On March 21, NAB’s Rawalpindi office had summoned Shah to appear before it to record his statement with regard to awarding subsidies of billions of rupees to Omni Group sugar mills in Sindh’s Thatta and Dadu districts.

The corruption watchdog further directed the chief minister to bring along all records pertaining to the Sakrand, Khoski, Pangrio and Thatta sugar mills.

It is noteworthy that former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had earlier on March 20 appeared before NAB and recorded their statements in the Park Lane Estate case.

A clash between police personnel and party activists was witnessed outside NAB headquarters, where the latter had gathered to show solidarity with the PPP leaders. According to PPP leaders, dozens of party workers were arrested and 10 got injured due to police action, whereas six police personnel were also injured during the clash.

The father-son duo were questioned for two hours in separate rooms of the NAB headquarters in three cases by NAB’s Combined Investigation Team (CIT), which had been formed to probe into cases of fake bank accounts and money laundering.