Islamabad (Reuters) – Pakistan’s powerful anti-corruption agency on Thursday summoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan for questioning over corruption charges that led to his May 9 arrest.
A spokesman for the National Audit Board (NAB), which has in the past investigated, tried and imprisoned everyone who has served as prime minister since 2008, said Khan will be scheduled at the agency’s Rawalpindi headquarters near Islamabad. rice field.
It is unclear whether Khan, who denies the charges, will respond to the subpoena. A spokesman for Khan’s party, Pakistan Telik E-Insaf, could not be reached for comment.
Khan’s arrest by militias on May 9 sparked a wave of violence that deepened political instability in the South Asian nation of 220 million people. Pakistan, too, has been significantly behind in securing critical IMF funding and is facing its worst economic crisis in its history.
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The Supreme Court ordered Mr Khan’s bail last Friday, and on Wednesday another court extended his protective bail until May 31.
His wife Bushra Khan, aka Bushra Bibi, is also out on bail until May 23.
Khan said Wednesday he expected to be re-arrested soon after his home in Lahore, Punjab, was besieged by police and the government warned him to hand over the supporters responsible for the attack on the army. rice field.
Punjab Information Minister Amir Mir said the government had no plans to arrest Khan as he was granted bail by the court. “All we want is to hand over the terrorists who are hiding in their homes,” he said.
Mr Mill said intelligence and law enforcement agencies had identified up to 40 people hiding in Mr Khan’s home suspected of attacking a military installation. He said Khan had 24 hours to hand over the suspects or face a “police investigation”.
Mr Khan said authorities could only search his home with a legal warrant from a court and denied protecting those involved in the violence.
(Additional reporting by Jibran Pesimam from Karachi and Muvasher Buhari from Lahore, written by Miral Famy, edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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