A six-member team of the National Accou-ntability Bureau (NAB) on Friday conducted a raid at 96-H Model Town residence of PML (N) President Shehbaz Sharif to arrest his eldest son Hamza Shehbaz on the basis of 'evidence' against him in a case pertaining to assets beyond means and money laundering. The NAB team remained there for less than hour but it had to face resistance from the guards of Hamza as well as some PML-N workers.
A press release issued by the NAB said a team had raided Hamza Shehbaz's residence on the basis of evidence against him in the assets beyond means and alleged money laundering case. "NAB officials were treated aggressively by Hamza Shahbaz's guards, their clothes were torn up and death threats were hurled at them. The officials had an arrest warrant and the Supreme Court had also stated that the accountability bureau did not require to inform any accused prior to arresting them. The press release added that Hamza Shehbaz had violated the law and the bureau, on the basis of evidence against him and in the light of Supreme Court's directives, would arrest him.
After the departure of NAB team, Hamza told media that for the first time he felt like a 'terrorist' considering the type of action taken against him. "Even the Supreme Court has said that the NAB has become politicized. Due to its policies, Brigadier Asad Munir (retd) committed suicide," Hamza said. A day earlier the Council of Islamic Ideology also condemned the way they conduct raids and put people in handcuffs, he added.
The NAB officials considered themselves Superman. "Whenever I received a call-up notice, I appeared before NAB despite reservations," he asserted. He stressed that he had been given permission to travel abroad to meet his daughter and had returned a day before the court gave a deadline. "No one is asking about the corruption in BRT project. Only Shehbaz Sharif and Mariyum Nawaz were arrested," he added.
Hamza said: "Imran, listen with open ears, we took an oath and we will continue to work on it. We did not take a penny from the national exchequer and even the court says NAB could not prove anything against us."
Earlier, leaving the Model Town residence, Deputy Director NAB Chaudhry Muhammad Asghar said they had come to meet Hamza Shehbaz. "We came here to respectfully meet Hamza bhai [brother] but we were surrounded. The clothes of our personnel were torn up," he added. NAB sources said all legal formalities were completed prior to the raid.
PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Hamza, along with Shahbaz Sharif and other members of the family, was present at the residence when the raid was carried out by the NAB without any warning. "Under which law this raid was conducted without any prior notice? Are Hamza and Shehbaz terrorists?" she lashed out at the bureau officials. "The current government is afraid of Shehbaz and it is using NAB to advance its own goals."
"NAB is resorting to raids without a warrant after they failed to find even a penny's worth of corruption against Shehbaz Sharif," she stressed. "It was unable to prove any sort of corruption, and now it is using its black law to harass them without any warrant or prior notice," the PML-N spokesperson questioned.
Shahbaz Gill, the spokesperson for Punjab government, said the NAB is an independent institution. "The government has no influence on it and the PTI does not believe in victimisation." PTI Information Secretary Umar Cheema said if Hamza Shehbaz had any evidence in his defense, he should provide the same to NAB. "These cases should be brought to their conclusion and there should be an independent accountability," he added. Later, the PML-N activists gathered outside Hamza's residence and shouted slogans against the government.