PR land lease: NAB denies closing probe against Khawaja Saad Rafique

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore on Saturday denied closing inquiry against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique into leasing land during his stint as railways minister, ARY News reported.

The NAB spokesperson in a statement has clarified that news circulating on media regarding the closure of the ongoing probe against Khawaja Saad Rafique into the railway leasing land case is fake.

The spokesperson has asked the media to refrain from speculation.

Earlier today, it was learnt that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to close the ongoing inquiry against PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique into leasing land during his stint as railways minister.

In December 2018, the NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal gave go-ahead to investigate railways land lease case against the former railway’s minister.

In a complaint, Saad had been accused of leasing the land, including a 33-kanal piece located on Lahore’s Walton Road for 33 years, to favourites.

However, sources say it was found that the land was leased out to the company with the highest bidding and that the allegation of rewarding the favourites wasn’t proved.

NAB sources said the state’s land was allocated for petrol pumps and commercial shops. “Saad with the help of different companies gave the land on lease disregarding the land rules,” they added.

During his tenure, the former railways minister had also given 12 plots in different districts to oil marketing companies.