Pak court orders 9-day custody for senior minister of prime minister's party
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Lahore: A court in Pakistan on Thursday ordered that a senior Punjab minister from Prime Minister Imran Khan's ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party be held in detention for nine days so that the top anti-graft body can question him on corruption allegations.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested Punjab government's powerful senior minister Abdul Aleem Khan for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
The NAB secured Aleem's physical remand till February 15, Geo TV reported.
Amid tight security, NAB officials brought Aleem to the court to seek his remand. The accountability court building was sealed off and a large number of police personnel were deployed along the route.
Soon after his arrest on Wednesday, Aleem resigned from the post of Punjab local government minister and sent his resignation to the provincial chief minister.
The NAB has been probing Aleem in multiple inquiries, including his offshore company Hexam Investment Overseas Ltd, owning assets beyond his known sources of income and his two housing societies - Park View housing society and River Age Housing Society in Lahore - for the last one year or so.
Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has welcomed the arrest of the minister and said that there should be across the board possibility.
