An unprecedented tour of NAB's lock-ups

By
Raees Ansari
|
Journalists look as they are given a tour of the NAB's regional office on Thokar Niaz Baig in Lahore.

For Khawaja Saad Rafique, the former minister for railways, they are “torture cells”. The prison, he and his brother are being kept in, have filthy bathrooms, with no locks or bolts. The food is inedible and revolting. And all the cells have cameras, which Rafique has to throw a sheet on each time he needs to change his clothes. “I am not a terrorist,” he shouted towards the press cameras while detailing his ordeal, during a brief appearance in a courtroom.

Rafique and his brother are in the custody of the anti-graft National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on charges of corruption. Both are being held at the NAB’s regional office on Thokar Niaz Baig in Lahore. Another high-profile inmate in their lock-up, till recently, was Shehbaz Sharif, the former chief minister of Punjab, also under probe for fraud. Sharif has now been shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail. But earlier, a hand-drawn image of him in a suffocating cell, with only a mattress to lie on, sent the social media in a tizzy.

In order to counter these allegations, the NAB provided journalists an unprecedented look inside their red-brick complex this week. Officials walked the press gaggle through the corridors, in and out of cells and even provided them a peak into their kitchen.

There are 14 cells in the building.

Pictures from inside the NAB's regional office on Thokar Niaz Baig in Lahore.—Photo by Raees Ansari

Rafique and his brother where in their separate lock-ups at the time of the tour. As was Senior Superintendent of Police, Rai Ejaz, apprehended for embezzling Rs. 700 million. Ejaz was in the cell, previously occupied by Shehbaz Sharif.

When the reporters moved pass Rafique's room, he began to speak. On being refrained, he loudly protested: "It is important for people to know about the sordid conditions inside."

But Ejaz disagreed. He said that these lock-ups were much better then the ones in Pakistan’s central jails.

"We are very particular about the respect of the suspects," said Saleem Shahzad, the director general of NAB in Lahore. A doctor is available 24 hours for each person, he went on, and each room has proper ventilation. "Calling it a torture cell is nothing more than propaganda."

Those in custody are allowed daily walks, apart from which all basic facilities are ensured.

"They," said Shahzad, referring to the opposition political parties, whose top leadership is either under trial by the anti-corruption body or in their custody, "want to make NAB controversial. We have nothing to do with politics."