Pakistan’s former president Asif Ali Zardari was arrested on Monday from his residence here in the fake bank accounts case by the country’s top anti-corruption body, even as his party appealed for calm.
A team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) accompanied by police, including female officials, entered the Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman’s house hours after the Islamabad High Court rejected his bail plea.
However, his sister Faryal Talpur was so far not arrested.
The brother-sister duo now have the option of appealing the order in the Supreme Court.
Initially, Zardari’s supporters and political aides resisted the arrest but later the security team was allowed to enter the house and the 63-year-old leader surrendered after negotiation.
TV footage showed Zardari coming out of his house and embracing his younger daughter Aseefa before getting into a black Landcruiser.
A number of party workers and Zardari’s son Bilawal saw him off as the former president was driven away in the vehicle.
The vehicle took him to the NAB compound in Islamabad’s Melody areas where he would kept till he would be produced before the court.
Zardari, the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013, has denied any link with the fake accounts. He has said the allegation was part of a vilification campaign by the ruling party to malign Opposition leaders.
He was elected as a member of the National Assembly from the NA-213 Nawabshah seat of Sindh province in last year’s general election. Zardari and his sister are two of the main accused in the money laundering scandal which utilised fake bank accounts to channel illegally gained funds out of Pakistan.