Shehbaz, Hamza escorted back to prison in Lahore

LAHORE: PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif and son Hamza were escorted back to the prison in separate vehicles on Thursday.

The father-son duo was released from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail on five-day parole to attend the funeral of Shahbaz’s mother, Begum Shamim Akhtar. The government extended the parole by 24 hours on December 2 on the request of PML-N.

Begum Shamim, mother of Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif, had passed away in London on November 22. The 89-year-old had been unwell for a month or so. She had traveled to the United Kingdom in February to see her ailing son, Nawaz, who is being treated for heart and kidney ailments in the British capital.

Read more: Nawaz Sharif not to accompany mother's body to Pakistan due to health issues

Her funeral prayers were held at the Sharif Medical City in Raiwand and she was laid to rest next to her husband’s, Mian Sharif, grave at the family’s Jati Umra estate in Lahore on Saturday.

Soon after her death, the PML-N had submitted a request for a 14-day release on parole to the Deputy Commissioner Lahore, who has the power to approve the release for 8-10 hours. 

According to sources at the Ministry of Interior, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had sent a request for the temporary release of Shahbaz and Hamza to the provincial cabinet for approval. 

After provincial cabinet green-lighted the release, Shahbaz and Hamza were released on November 27.