Pakistan orders 9-day custody for member of ruling party

LAHORE, Pakistan – A Pakistani court has ordered that a senior politician from Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party be held in custody for nine days so that an anti-graft body can question him on corruption allegations.

Thursday’s development comes a day after the National Accountability Bureau arrested the provincial minister for local bodies, Abdul Aleem Khan, on suspicion that he possesses assets “beyond his known sources.”

Khan resigned his post, vowing to fight the charges and denying any wrongdoing.

Khan is a close friend of the premier and a senior member of his ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which came to power in last year’s parliamentary elections. The two men are not related.