LAHORE - Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and his brother Salman Shehbaz Sharif failed to appear at the National Accountability Bureau office on Tuesday.
Both sons of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif were summoned by the anti-graft body to appear before a joint investigation team in connection with a corruption case related to Ramazan Sugar Mills.
According to official sources, Salman Shehbaz left for London a couple of days ago to deliberately skip appearance in Lahore NAB. “The name of Salman Shehbaz was not placed on the exit control list. But, it is not clear if he would return to face the investigation in near future,” the official said requesting anonymity.
A source in the PML-N also confirmed that Salman was out of the country but he refused to comment further. When contacted, a spokesman for the anti-graft watchdog confirmed that Hamza and Salman failed to appear before the combined investigation team. He said that both the brothers were summoned by the authority in connection with a corruption case. They were bound to appear before the NAB team on Tuesday, he added.
Earlier, the Lahore NAB had summoned both the sons of former chief minister to appear before the investigation team on October 30. Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif is already in NAB custody in connection with Ashiana Housing Scheme, a government-run housing scheme for low-income people.
In April, Imran Ali Yousaf, the son-in-law of Shehbaz Sharif, had also skipped appearance in the NAB in a corruption case related to the Punjab Power Development Company. Later, he fled abroad and did not return till date.
Ali Yousaf has been accused of receiving millions of rupees from the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PPDC. Yousaf had not only failed to appear before a combined investigation team of the NAB but also provided no reason for not turning up.
On the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, NAB chief Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal last year had ordered a probe into the 56 companies over allegations of embezzlement, corruption and irregularities.
