Pak court extends Shehbaz's remand in housing scam

An accountability court Monday extended the physical remand of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president and opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif in the custody of the country's top anti-graft agency for another 10 days in a multi-crore housing scam.

Shehbaz was brought to the accountability court here amid high security.

A large number of PML-N workers who gathered outside the court to see their leader clashed with police. Police baton charged the workers when they tried to get closer to Shehbaz.

The PML-N president was produced before the accountability court a day before the expiry of 14-day remand given to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on October 16.

As the hearing resumed today, Shehbaz told the court he has been implicated in false cases and that the NAB is blackmailing him.

"The National Accountability Bureau is blackmailing me. It is not allowing me to meet my family. Even a prisoner of an enemy country is allowed to see his familywhy I am denied?" Shehbaz told the accountability court.

"I have blood cancer but the NAB is not allowing my medical check-up. The kind of restrictions I am facing in NAB were not even implaced in the martial law regimes," he said.

After hearing the NAB prosecutor's arguments, the court extended Shehabz's remand till November 7.

NAB had arrested Shehbaz on October 5 in the Rs 1,400 crore Ashiyana housing scam.

Shehbaz is primarily accused of ordering the cancellation of a contract given to successful bidder Chaudhry Latif and Sons in the Ashiana housing in order to oblige his favourite fir' - Lahore Casa Developers, resulting in a loss of millions of rupees to the exchequer.

He also attended the National Assembly session Monday after the speaker ordered his production order.