LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique got into a fight with a security officer outside the accountability court on Friday where he and his brother, Khawaja Salman Rafique were brought for a hearing of the Paragon City case.
According to reports, the PML-N leader wasn’t allowed to bring his companions inside the courtroom, which made him angry. He got into a fight with a police officer dressed in plainclothes.
Before the hearing started, police officials had taken charge of the security in the courtroom. They had sent all the reporters out of the room and did not let anyone else enter.
Upon complaints, the superintendent of police had said that he would look into the matter but later refused to let anyone inside the court.
Since only a duty judge was present, the hearing of the case was rescheduled to Dec 9.
After the proceedings, Rafique left while chanting slogans. He told the reporters that they should fight for their rights themselves.
On April 26, the NAB Lahore had approved the filing of a reference against the Khawaja brothers and Nadeem Zia for the alleged corruption.
Qaiser Amin Butt, the director of the society, was also included in the inquiry initiated by the NAB, and he was also arrested in November last year. However, later on, he agreed to turn approver against the Khawaja brothers and Zia.
THE CASE:
Butt and Zia established a company namely “Air Avenue” in 2003; however, the name was later changed to Paragon City (Pvt) Limited.
On Dec 11, 2018, Khawaja brothers were detained by the accountability watchdog after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected their bail pleas.
The NAB had launched an investigation into the alleged scam in November last year after a number of victims staged protests and held a press conference at the Lahore Press Club against what they termed the housing society’s fraud.
