Shehbaz Sharif's remand extended by 10 days

Lahore  :  An accountability court here on Monday extended Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) President Shehbaz Sharif's physical remand by 10 days in a multi-billion rupee housing scam case.

During the hearing, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sought a 15-day extension in the physical remand of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and the former Chief Minister of Punjab province. However, the court extended it by 10 days, Geo News reported. 

Sharif will be produced in the court on November 7.

The anti-graft body said Sharif was involved in corruption in the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme case during his tenure as the Chief Minister from 2013 to May 2018. 

It said that he had "misused his powers" and granted contracts to unqualified companies of his friends, causing "losses of millions of rupees to the national exchequer".

During the hearing, Sharif said: "I have been implicated in false cases... NAB officials blackmail me. I battled blood cancer but they (NAB officials) are not even allowing me to get my check-up done."

"Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was allowed to meet his family but I am not permitted to meet mine even once a week," he said. 

Sharif was arrested on October 5 inside the anti-graft watchdog's Lahore office where he was summoned to record his statement in connection with the Punjab Saaf Pani Company case. 

On October 6, the accountability court in Lahore had granted the anti-graft body a 10-day physical remand of Sharif. The PML-N President's remand was then extended on October 16 by 14 days.

Sharif was brought to court on Monday amid tight security and a large number of PML-N supporters were gathered outside the premises. 

They chanted slogans against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and even clashed with police personnel deployed outside the court. 

Following the clashes, police resorted to baton-charge.