An accountability court on Wednesday recorded the statements of two prosecution witnesses and directed the NAB to present more witnesses on next hearing in a reference against former Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq and Brother Salman Rafiq. The NAB also submitted a copy of confessional statement of former MPA Qaiser Amin Butt, an approver in the case. The court adjourned further hearing till November 21.

The NAB accused the Khwaja brothers of wrongfully gaining Rs 18.2 million approximately from M/s Paragon City (Pvt.) Limited in their bank accounts. It said the Khwaja brothers through their "benamidars" and with the abetment of former MPA Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia established a housing project and cheated public at large.

The court also summoned DIG operations on a complaint of former railways minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq about mistreatment outside the courtroom and restriction on entry of media persons and lawyers by the police. Saad told the court that the police personnel mistreated him on his way to the court, used megaphones to frustrate his talk with journalists. He said the police also restricted media persons and lawyers from entering the court and misbehaved with political workers. He said the undue conduct of the police caused clashes and upheaval on each date of hearing.

The judge expressed dismay over the situation and directed the DIG operations to appear on next hearing with an explanation of the events narrated by the PML-N leader.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019