Maryam Nawaz, Safdar and 188 other PML-N workers booked for clashes with police

LAHORE: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, her husband Safdar Awan and 188 party workers have been booked by police after clashes ensued out the office of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Lahore during Maryam’s appearance on Tuesday.

PML-N supporters and police engaged in violent clashes on Tuesday outside the Bureau’s office, where Maryam Nawaz had been summoned to respond in a case of alleged illegal transfer of government land.

Whilst police and the Punjab government claimed that it was an deliberate attempt on the PML-N leader's part to create anarchy, Maryam accused NAB and police of attacking the party's workers and pelting stones at her bulletproof car. 

According to the police, a case against the PML-N leaders has been registered in the Chohang police station after NAB officials filed a case.

Nawaz, her husband Muhammad Safdar, Rana Sanaullah, Pervez Rashid, Zubair Mahmood, Javed Latif, Daniel Aziz and Pervez Malik have also been named in the first information report (FIR). 

Police further said a case has been registered against 300 unidentified persons, including 188 PML-N workers, which includes violence against police personnel.

According to the FIR, 13 policemen were injured in the clashes yesterday.

PML-N workers sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand

Later, the PML-N workers who were arrested on Tuesday were sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand for vandalism outside NAB’s office.

Fifty-six PML-N workers were presented before the judicial magistrate today along with the party’s legal team to secure bail for the arrested workers.

The investigating officer said that for a physical remand, interrogation of the arrested was necessary.

Rejecting the request for a physical remand, the court sent the PML-N workers to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

NAB office turns into battleground

As many as two dozen of the party's workers were arrested, with the provincial government vowing to hold all those responsible after clashes erupted between PML-N leaders and police outside the NAB office on Tuesday.

In a video that she posted on Twitter, Maryam alleged that police pelted stones at her car which cracked her bulletproof vehicle's windshield. She also accused police of firing tear gas shells and baton-charging party workers.

Read more: Punjab govt blames Maryam Nawaz for clashes outside NAB office

NAB blames PML-N workers for 'organised hooliganism'

NAB Lahore had said that it had summoned the PML-N vice president to hear her stance on the case registered against her.

The Bureau alleged that PML-N workers pelted stones and were involved in "hooliganism" at the time of her appearance.

NAB said that it had been treated like this for the first time in the 20 years since the Bureau had been created, stating that its building's windows had been broken and staffers injured.

It announced that proceedings against Maryam had been postponed and it condemned PML-N workers for interfering in legal matters in an "organised" way.

As many as two dozen PML-N workers were arrested by police after the supporters dispersed.

Punjab government warns of consequences

Later, the PTI leadership in Punjab warned of action against those involved in pelting stones at the police personnel present outside the NAB office.

Punjab Minister for Law Raja Basharat said PML-N had repeated its "history of attacking the Supreme Court", adding that institutions and law enforcement agencies are not safe from the PML-N's "hooligans".

"The government took all necessary measures to establish its writ and action will be taken against all those who gathered there illegally and those who pelted stones at police officers stationed there," he had said.

Punjab Minister for Information Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan had said that for the first time in 20 years since the establishment of NAB, the building's windows had been smashed. He accused Maryam of "carrying forward her family's traditions" of "launching attacks" against law enforcement.

Chohan claimed that nearly Rs1 million were distributed among people at Jati Umra prior to today's clashes.