Imran Khan likely to be in custody of anti-graft agency for four to five days': Report
Islamabad (PTI): Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, who was arrested dramatically on Tuesday in a corruption case, is likely to remain in the custody of the country's anti-graft agency for "four to five days" and is expected to be presented before an accountability court, a media report said on Wednesday.
Khan, 70, was arrested by the paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case from the Islamabad High Court and bundled into a prison van sparking massive protests across the country by supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Khan's party has claimed that at least four people were killed and over a dozen injured in different parts of the country in violent clashes between the security forces and PTI supporters.
"At least four PTI workers were killed so far in different parts of the country on the firing of the law enforcement agencies. One each has been killed in Lahore, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Swat," senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari said on Tuesday.
Khan will be presented before the accountability court on Wednesday, a NAB source was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
"We will do our best to keep him under custody for at least four to five days," the source said.
Under new amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, the duration of physical remand has been cut from 90 days to 14 days, granted by any court.
"We will seek the maximum physical remand of 14 days from the court," he said, adding that the court was expected to grant at least four to five days remand, the report said.
The arrest of the former cricketer-turned-politician comes a day after the powerful army accused Khan of levelling baseless allegations against a senior officer of the spy agency ISI.
When asked about the condition of the PTI chief, the source said Khan was detained in NAB's Rawalpindi/Islamabad regional headquarters "in a comfortable atmosphere".
He will not be "treated harshly", rather he will only be questioned regarding his alleged involvement in the case and seeking monetary benefits.
In an official statement, the bureau has also given the details about the case against Khan.
On Tuesday, a NAB official said that Khan has been arrested in the case related to Al-Qadir Trust, owned by the PTI chairman and his wife Bushra Bibi, which is about the setting up of Al-Qadir University for Sufism in the 2019 Sohawa area of Jhelum district of Punjab.
Khan's arrest warrant, issued on May 1, said that he was accused of corruption and corrupt practice.
The anti-graft watchdog has also justified the PTI chief's arrest with the help of Rangers from inside the court premises on Tuesday and termed it legal and purely according to the NAB laws.
"NAB arrested former prime minister Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The case relates to illegal acquisition of land and construction for Al-Qadir University involving unlawful benefit given in recovery of prime proceeds (190 million pounds) through National Crime Agency, UK," the statement said.
"The arrest has been made after fulfilling the lawful procedures of inquiry and investigation conducted by NAB," the anti-graft watchdog asserted.
It said during the process of inquiry/investigation, several notices were issued to Khan and his wife as they were the trustees of Al-Qadir Trust.
"However, none of the call-up notices was responded to by the former prime minister or his wife."
Meanwhile, the NAB is also out to arrest other alleged characters in the Al-Qadir University and Trust case in which Khan was arrested and has completed the process to issue a red warrant through Interpol to arrest Khan's former adviser on accountability, Shehzad Akbar.
The name statement accused Akbar of being "the key person" in the case.
"He (Akbar) and the former prime minister misled the federal cabinet by concealing the documents related to the settlement agreement. Money was received under the settlement agreement and was supposed to be deposited in the national exchequer," it added.
The NAB statement said the process of issuing of Red notice against former adviser Akbar, who is absconding, has already been initiated.
As the news of Khan's arrest spread, massive protests broke out in several cities across Pakistan. Protesters at several places turned violent and burned police vehicles and damaged public property.
For the first time, Khan's supporters smashed the main gate of the army's sprawling headquarters in Rawalpindi, where troops exercised restraint. The protesters chanted slogans against the establishment.
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Tharoor junks Rijiju's claim that he agreed Cong is 'anti-women'; hails his party
New Delhi (PTI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday debunked Union minister Kiren Rijiju's reported claim that the opposition party leader had agreed that the Congress is "anti-women", asserting that at no point did he imply any such thing and that his party has stood for women's rights and reservation.
Reacting to Rijiju's claims, Tharoor stressed that the Congress is totally in favour of women's reservation and prepared to have it implemented right now -- without linking it to delimitation.
In a post on X, the Congress leader said, "I am sorry, but with the greatest respect for Kiren Rijiju, at no point did I say or imply any such thing -- and I have seven witnesses in the photograph who can confirm that!"
"'That was what he meant', our Minister says. No, sir, that is NOT what I meant. 'That Congress can be anti-women...he agreed in a way,' he added. I am sorry but I did NOT agree in any way," Tharoor said.
"The Congress has stood for women's rights and women's reservation under a strong woman president in Sonia Gandhi, initiated the Women's Reservation Bill, passed it in the Rajya Sabha during our tenure and supported it in the Lok Sabha when it was brought by government of India in 2023," he said.
"We are totally in favour of women's reservation and are prepared to have it implemented right now -- without linking it to delimitation," the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.
Rijiju's reported comments came while narrating details of the conversation he had with Tharoor on April 18 after the end of the three-day special sitting of Parliament during which the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
Tharoor on April 18 had shared a snippet of his conversation with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, and said the BJP leader conceded that “no one could ever call me anti-women”.
Tharoor had said women are by far the better half of the species - 'Humans 2.0' - and deserve representation in Parliament and in every institution.
"Just don’t link their advancement to a mischievous and potentially dangerous Delimitation that could devastate our democracy," he had said on X.
Sharing a picture of some opposition MPs standing with Rijiju in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor had said, "A little post-adjournment gathering of Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha with our charming Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
"When Kiren Rijiju explained why he and his party were calling the Opposition 'mahila virodhi', it was pointed out to him that no one could ever call me anti-women! He conceded the point…"
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
The three-day special sitting was convened from April 16 to 18 to secure Parliament's approval for the Bill.
After the bill was defeated, the Congress had said the "nefarious attempt" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to link their "dangerous delimitation proposals" to women's reservation had been decisively defeated in the Lok Sabha, calling it a win for democracy and the Constitution.
I am sorry, but with the greatest respect for @KirenRijiju, at no point did I say or imply any such thing -- and I have seven witnesses in the photograph who can confirm that!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 28, 2026
"That was what he meant", our Minister says. No, sir, that is NOT what I meant. "That Congress can be… https://t.co/hkUsYgOY7a
