Lahore: A Pakistani court on Thursday directed the ministry of foreign affairs to execute a non-bailable arrest warrant against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a 34-year land allotment case, according to media reports.
During the plot allotment hearing, Model Town Police Inspector Bashir Ahmed told Lahore Accountability Court's Judge Asad Ali that Sharif was not at his residence.
Last month, the accountability court had issued a bailable arrest warrant and served summons at all known addresses of the three-time prime minister, who is currently in London for medical treatment.
Read also: Pakistan court sets deadline for ex-PM Sharif's return
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMN-N) leader Ata Tarar confirmed to the court on Thursday that the 70-year-old party chief Sharif had been abroad for six months, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Responding to this, Special Prosecutor Harris Qureshi, appearing on behalf of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), asked the court to issue a non-bailable arrest (NBA) warrant against Sharif.
The court issued the NBA warrant and directed the ministry of foreign affairs to execute the arrest through the Pakistan High Commission in London, the report added.
Jang/Geo media group owner Mir Shakilur Rehman is also facing charges in the case and was arrested in March. The court on Thursday extended the judicial remand of the veteran journalist, The Nation newspaper reported.
The NBA warrant against Sharif came two days after the Islamabad High Court gave a "last chance" to the former prime minister to surrender and appear before it on September 10 in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills graft case.
PTI
