NAB team likely to visit London to collect evidence against Sharif family

A team of Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is likely to visit London in the coming days to collect evidence of properties belonging to ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's family.

On Monday, the NAB declared Sharif's sons, Hussain and Hassan, proclaimed offenders for repeatedly failing to appear before it. It also issued perpetual warrants for them and separated their trial from Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law retired Capt. Mohammad Safdar.

Sharif's daughter Maryam, after appearing before the NAB court on Monday, said that she was not afraid of getting arrested.

After hearing arguments from the prosecution, the court accepted the bail of both Maryam and her husband. The judge ordered the NAB authorities to release Capt. Safdar after he too submitted surety bonds worth Rs. 5 million.

The hearing was adjourned until October 13, when members of the Sharif family will be indicted.

The NAB is sending its team in pursuance of the letters it had written to the United Kingdom authorities in connection with the mutual legal agreement, the Dawn quoted official sources, as saying.

"Since the NAB has not yet received a reply from the U.K. authorities, it has decided to pursue the matter in person," a source said, adding that the team would make sure its return before October 13 to submit a report to the accountability court in Islamabad in connection with the indictment of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and sons Hassan and Hussain.

The 'Volume-10' of the Joint Investigation Team report is said to have dealt with the mutual legal business agreements between the Sharif family and different foreign governments.

On October 3, Sharif was re-elected as president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

On July 28, a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, while disqualifying Sharif under Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution had asked the NAB to file four references in the Rawalpindi accountability court within six weeks on the basis of the material collected and referred to by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as well as that already available with the Federal Investigation Agency and the NAB. 

-ANI