Co-accused in reference against Dr Asim Hussain arrested

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea of Abdul Hameed, who was co-accused in a Rs462 billion corruption reference against former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain, following which he was arrested.

While dismissing Hameed’s pre-arrest bail plea, the SHC granted an extension in the bails of ex-petroleum secretary Ejaz Chaudhry and former chief executive officer of the Karachi Dock Labour Board (KDLB) Muhammad Safdar. The court also accepted the pre-arrest bail plea of former director of the Karachi Deve­lopment Authority (KDA) Athar Hussain.

Hameed had appeared before the court today for the hearing and was taken into custody by officials of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after his pre-arrest bail plea was rejected.

According to NAB, the suspect is accused of laundering money through Dr Asim’s bank accounts.

Hameed is accused of corruption in the Ministry of Petroleum and money laundering.

Dr Asim, a close aide of former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, faced several charges including corruption references filed by NAB of Rs462 billion.