NAB team faces resistance during raid at SA Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani’s home

KARACHI: A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team Wednesday raided the residence of Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in Karachi, hours after the Sindh High Court (SHC) rejected his bail plea, ARY NEWS reported.

The NAB team, however, faced resistance and was not allowed to enter the residence by the security guards posted there, saying that Siraj Durrani was not at his home and they could not allow them to enter the place due to the presence of his female family members.

The PPP workers have also gathered outside the residence of the party stalwart and a close confidante of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Later, the family of the speaker allowed the NAB to enter their premises conditionally with his son saying that they could enter along with lady searchers.

“Only lady constables will be allowed to search the house,” he said adding that previously NAB officials, who consider them above the law, had harassed the female members of the family.

While announcing the decision of his father outside his home, Shahbaz Durrani said that they would not allow any men to enter the premises.

Earlier in the day, Sindh High Court (SHC) had rejected the bail plea of Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and seven other accused in the assets case.

The SHC while rejecting the bails of Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and the other seven accused in the assets beyond known sources of income case, approved bails of wife and daughters of Durrani.

On July 20 last year, the anti-corruption body had ordered an inquiry on charges of corruption against the Sindh Assembly speaker.

Read More: NAB SEEKS APPROVAL FOR ARRESTING AGHA SIRAJ DURRANI

The NAB prosecution named 20 persons including Durrani as accused in the reference filed in accountability court Karachi after an inquiry.

According to the NAB charge-sheet, the accused were involved in corruption of upto 1.6 billion rupees.

This is not the first time that he has been arrested by the NAB as previously in February this year, the NAB Karachi had arrested Siraj Durrani from a hotel in Islamabad.