Helicopter misuse case: Imran Khan questioned by anti-graft body
Islamabad, Aug 7 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and Prime Minister in-waiting Imran Khan was questioned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Peshawar on Tuesday in a case pertaining to his alleged misuse of the provincial government's helicopters during his party's tenure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The anti-corruption body is investigating Khan for causing a Rs 2.17 million loss to the provincial exchequer by using the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's helicopters -- Mi-17 and an Ecureuil helicopter -- for 74 hours.
A questionnaire prepared by NAB with 15 queries was handed to Khan and his lawyers. The PTI chief has 15 days to submit his response. Khan was accompanied by former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and former speaker of the provincial assembly Asad Qaiser, Geo News reported.
The anti-corruption body officials said that Khan was "interrogated inside the NAB office for more than one hour".
Khan had been summoned by the accountability body on July 18, but had sought more time to appear due to his "busy schedule". He had submitted an application to the NAB through his counsel Babar Awan seeking another date to appear in the case.
On January 29, Geo News reported that the former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government spent millions of rupees on Khan's use of the provincial government's helicopters.
The former cricketer is scheduled to take oath of office as the Prime Minister next week.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
