NAB team arrests Sharjeel Memon as SHC rejects bail in graft case

KARACHI: Former provincial minister Sharjeel Memon was arrested by a National Accountabiliy Bureau (NAB) team hours after the Sindh High Court rejected his request to confirm his interim bail in a corruption reference, ARY News reported.

The NAB team along with Rangers arrested the former minister from outside the court and moved him to NAB’s Sindh office. Sources say he will be presented in a NAB court tomorrow.

Sharjeel Memon, flanked by his supporters and lawyers, took at least five hours to come out of the court premises as his lawyers advised him to hand him over to NAB team.

Earlier, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh dismissed the bail petitions of as many as thirteen accused persons, the PPP leader among them, after hearing arguments of their counsel.

Sharjeel Memon, who had returned to Pakistan in March this year after concluding his two-year long self-imposed exile, is facing several charges of misappropriation and corruption.

A reference filed against him related to the alleged award of government advertisements at exorbitant rates, causing loss of more than Rs five billion to the national exchequer.

Another case related to his alleged role in getting the state land allotted and adjusted in 43 Dehs at throwaway prices for a property developer, depriving the public exchequer of billions of rupees in revenue.