London (Staff Report): Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have left for Pakistan and will reach at Lahore airport on Friday (Today).
A 16-member National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team has been tasked to arrest the duo.
The bureau has arranged two helicopters. One chopper would be at Lahore airport, while the other would be in Islamabad, and the father-daughter duo would be arrested upon landing at either of the two airports.
Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz have been in London prior to Eid-ul-Fitr and are expected to return on Friday. Nawaz and Maryam will be arrested upon arrival in Pakistan following their sentencing in the Avenfield Reference case.
Earlier, Nawaz Sharif’s wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz has regained consciousness.
“Today my mother opened her eyes the first time after one month,” Hussain Nawaz told media. “For some time her ventilator settings and sedatives were being reduced,” he added.
Begum Kulsoom had been unconscious and in critical condition after she suffered a cardiac arrest last month. She is being treated at the Harley Street Clinic in London.
“First time in 30 days, Ami opened eyes for a few seconds. Don’t know if she saw or registered us. Still not conscious and on the ventilator. Prayers solicited,” Maryam Nawaz said in tweet.
During a news conference in London on Thursday, Nawaz Sharif said he wished to see his wife opening her eyes again and requested the nation to pray for her recovery.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday vowed that he and his party workers will go to receive Nawaz Sharif at Lahore airport.
While addressing a pressing conference alongside former Railways minister Saad Rafique and former National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Shehbaz warned police officials against arresting his workers. "Know that time never remains the same and after we win the polls, we will hold you accountable on July 26," he said.
Punjab’s former CM slammed the caretaker government and termed arrests of more than 100 workers from Lahore a “naked pre-poll rigging”.
Ousted prime minister Nawaz Shaarif and Maryam Nawaz are expected to leave London today evening and land in Lahore around 6:00pm on Friday (July 13).
Ahead of party supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz’s return to the country, over 100 PML-N local leaders and workers were detained in a “midnight operation” late Wednesday.
Several UC chairmen, vice chairmen and councilors are among those arrested from various areas of Lahore.