Law enforcers arrested former federal minister and senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Babar Khan Ghauri Monday night shortly after he landed at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.
He returned home from the United States after seven years of self-imposed exile. Sources said that Babar Ghauri was repatriated after being offered the governorship.
The arrest of MQM leader Babar Ghauri was revealed in a video that went viral on social media, but senior police officials have been reluctant to comment.
News of his detention spread like wildfire after a mobile phone video went viral on the internet, showing some policemen taking Babar Ghauri with them from the airport premises.
An Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) of Sindh Police can also be seen in the video clip if it was already present on the airport premises.
According to reports, Babar Ghauri has been shifted to an unknown location after his arrest at the airport. However, despite several attempts, the concerned police officials are reluctant to comment.
Babar Ghauri did not tell anyone about his return home, future strategy and joining any party, but he announced his return a few days ago.
Last week, the Sindh High Court granted him two weeks’ bail in a corruption reference and money laundering and terrorist financing case. Babar Ghauri’s lawyers had applied for security bail.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) also registered a case against Ghauri and other party leaders in 2017 in a money laundering and terror financing case.
Similarly, the National Accountability Bureau had also filed a reference in the Accountability Court in 2018 as Babar Ghauri had made 940 illegal recruitments as the Federal Minister of Ports and Shipping from 2008 to 2013.
He was also facing allegations of widespread corruption in the Karachi Port Trust.
It should be noted that a strategy had been formulated since last year to overthrow Imran Khan’s government, and a link in this chain was that senior PPP leader Syed Nasir Hussain Shah met the former in Dubai on October 25, 2021.
The Sindh governor had met Ishratul Ibad and invited him to return home and participate in politics, but Ishratul Ibad apologized for accepting any such offer.