IO ordered to complete attachment of properties of Siraj Durrani's wife, children before Jan 15.

Karachi -- An accountability court on Tuesday directed an investigating officer to complete, by Jan 15, 2020, the process of proclamation and attachment of properties of 11 absconding suspects, including Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani's wife and five children, in a case pertaining to alleged unlawful accumulation of assets worth Rs1.16 billion.

Mr Durrani, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was arrested by the federal anti-graft watchdog in an Islamabad hotel on Feb 20 for investigation into his alleged movable and immovable assets beyond his known sources of income, making 352 illegal appointments, embezzlement of public funds in construction of MPA Hostel and the new Sindh Assembly building, as well as appointment of project directors for these schemes.

On Tuesday, the matter came up before the accountability court-IV judge Farid Anwar Qazi when Mr Durrani appeared before the court on bail along with other suspects, including Tufail Ahmed Sheikh, Mitha Khan, Gulzar Ahmed, Shamshad Khatoon, Agha Masihuddin Khan Durrani and Zulfiqar Ali Dahar.

The IO informed the court that the process of proclamation and attachment of properties of some 11 alleged absconding suspects, including Mr Durrani's wife and five children, had been initiated under Sections 87 (proclamation of person absconding) and 88 (attachment of properties of person absconding) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

He requested for time to complete the same and...