Pakistan’s top investigating agency has arrested a close aide of former prime minister Imran Khan in a money laundering case, media reports said on Thursday.
The Anti-Money Laundering Cell of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has busted an active racket involved in a money laundering operation based in Lahore, The News reported. Iftikhar Rasool Ghumman, Khan’s security-in charge was arrested along with two others, FIA officials said.
The arrests have exposed the network of people allegedly involved in money laundering operations through Hundi and Hawala channels. The racket involved using more than 40 fake companies for transferring money to other countries, the report said.
Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has condemned Ghumman’s arrest. “Today, my security in-charge Iftikhar Ghumman has been abducted. This is all part of the London Plan where Nawaz Sharif was given assurances PTI would be crushed,” Khan tweeted.
“So now people close to me, along with my leadership, are being harassed, abducted, tortured and confronted with sham cases across Pakistan in total violation of the Constitution and rule of law,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan extended the interim bail to Khan, 70, till May 4 in three terrorism cases. Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, is currently facing over 140 cases registered against him under treason, terrorism, murder, attempted murder, blasphemy, and other charges. He was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
Since his ouster, he has been demanding early elections to remove what he termed an "imported government" led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif has maintained that elections will be held later this year once parliament completes its five-year tenure.
