The former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was arrested by Rangers personnel on Tuesday triggering nation wide protests.
Khan was arrested in connection with an investigation into the Al-Qadir Trust case.
The PTI chief was taken into custody from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC), where the former PM was seeking bail in multiple cases registered after he was ousted from power last year.
What is Al-Qadir Trust case?
Imran Khan along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders are facing an inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which allegedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.
According to the accusations, Khan and the other defendants allegedly changed Rs 50 billion (190 million pounds at the time), which was transferred by the British National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as a condition of the deal with the real estate tycoon.
The accused allegedly got 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
During the PTI government, United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) seized assets worth 190 million pounds from a property tycoon in Britain.
The agency said the assets would be passed to the government of Pakistan and the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt”.
Subsequently, then prime minister Khan get approval of the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement.
It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
Subsequently, Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks after the Imran-led government approved the agreement with the property tycoon.
PTI leaders Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed as members of the trust.
Two to three months after the cabinet’s approval, the property tycoon transferred 458 canals of land to Bukhari, a close aide of the PTI chief, which he later transferred to the trust.
Later, Bukhari and Awan opted out as the trustees. That trust is now registered in the name of Khan, Bushra Bibi and Farah.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials were earlier probing the alleged misuse of powers in the process of recovery of “dirty money” received from the UK crime agency.
Following the emergence of irrefutable evidence in the case, the inquiry against Imran, Bushra Bibi, Barrister Shahzad Akbar, and a real estate tycoon was converted into the investigation.
Officials from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were previously looking into claims of power abuse during the process of recovering “dirty money” obtained from the UK crime agency.
The probe into Imran, Bushra Bibi, attorney Shahzad Akbar, and a real estate mogul was changed into an investigation once indisputable evidence in the case emerged.
The property tycoon gave Khan and his wife land worth billions of rupees to create an educational institution in exchange for agreeing to a contract that would provide legal protection for the property tycoon’s black money gained from the UK crime agency.