Dr Asim denies all allegations, fears for his life

Former federal minister for petroleum Dr Asim (second left) arrives at Sindh High Court on Monday.

The anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday extended the remand of former petroleum minister and former president Asif Zardari's close confident, Dr Asim Hussain by five days, with the court sending him back into police custody.
Dr Asim spoke in the court for the first time repudiating all allegations including corruption, land grabbing, allowing treatment of terrorist in his hospital, China cutting and others.
The Investigation Officer (IO) Altaf Hussain had asked the court to extend the remand of Asim for an additional five days in order to complete the ongoing investigation.
During the court proceedings, Asim was asked by the presiding judge if he had a statement to make as he was present in an "open court and he was safe in the premises."
Dr Asim did not directly respond to the question whether he was ever beaten during the interrogation by the Rangers, but said he would one day relate the treatment meted out to him.
"I was some times given lollipop and on other occasion threatened," he said and insisted that he was being made a scape goat to implicate somebody else, an apparent reference to former president Asif Zardari.
He spoke in court and stated that he was fearful for his life and that he was not aware where he was kept while in custody of security forces.
"I went with the Rangers voluntarily when the Rangers arrived to take me into custody," said the former minister.
"The cases against me for treating terrorists in my medical facilities are false and baseless."
He added that he was being subjected to mental torture while in the custody of security forces, which was detrimental to his health as he suffers from multiple health issues. "I was made to sign documents that I was not aware of while in custody," alleged the PPP leader.
Following the end of his 90-day preventive detention on November 25, Rangers had handed Dr Asim over to police after lodging a case against him for allegedly treating and harbouring terrorists at North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of his hospital at the behest of leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the PPP.
The anti-terrorism court had remanded Dr Asim in police custody for four days. During the court proceedings, a conflict arose between the Sindh prosecutor general and the Rangers prosecutor over the period of remand of Dr Asim.
The Rangers prosecutor opposed the four-day detention, saying Rangers had asked for a 14-day detention in the remand paper submitted in the court, but the Sindh PG had crossed it out and asked for a four-day detention instead.
The interior ministry has also added Hussain's name on the Exit Control List (ECL), according to sources.
According to details, the decision was taken following the request of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). NAB is a part of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to investigate Dr Asim's alleged corruption and his role in terror financing. The former petroleum minister was arrested by Sindh Rangers from the office of Higher Education Commission in Clifton on August 26, 2015.
news@khaleejtimes.com

• Pakistan