Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday submitted a written response to the National Accountability Authority instead of appearing before it, as Pakistani police continue to cordon off his home in Lahore, demanding the extradition of dozens of protesters from his supporters to stand trial on terrorism charges.
Khan said he was unable to appear at the commission's headquarters to hear his testimony on the case known as Qadir University, because he was busy applying for bail in a number of cases he faces before the courts of the city of Lahore, where he lives.
Khan added that all the allegations made by the authority in the graft notice were false, fabricated, based on a deliberate misunderstanding of the law and politically motivated.
Footage broadcast by activists today showed dozens of police deployed around Imran Khan's home in Punjab province.
Since losing his post as prime minister last year, Imran Khan has faced several corruption charges, one of which is the acquisition of a piece of land as a bribe, known as the land of Al-Qadir University.
Al-Qadir University is one of the projects of the Qadir Trust, a social welfare institution established by Imran Khan's wife Bushra Watu in 2018.
The Foundation owns a plot of 60 acres in Jahlam district of Punjab, on which Qadir University is built.
The government accuses Imran Khan and his wife of taking the land as a bribe from Pakistan's largest real estate mogul Malik Riaz Hussain.
In 2019, Britain returned £190m to Pakistan after Riaz Hussain lost a money laundering case during a British investigation.
The Pakistani government says that instead of putting the money in Pakistan's treasury, Khan used it to pay fines imposed on Riaz Hussain, who in return gave Imran Khan and his wife the land of Qadir University.
Khan was arrested on these charges on May 31 before being released on bail by court order that was extended to May <>.
Khan's arrest sparked a wave of violence that has increased political instability in the South Asian country of 220 million people.
Pakistan is also facing its worst economic crisis ever, with important funding from the International Monetary Fund needed delayed for months in order to avoid a balance-of-payments crisis.
His wife, Bushra Khan, known as Bushra Bibi, was released on bail until May 23.
Khan said on Wednesday that police had cordoned off his home in Lahore, Punjab province, and that he expected to be arrested again soon, after the government demanded that he hand over supporters it accuses of carrying out attacks on the military.
Punjab provincial government information minister Amir Mir said the government had no plans to arrest Khan after he was released on bail by court order. "All we want is for him to hand over the terrorists hiding in his house," he said.
Khan said authorities could only search his home under judicial warrants and denied sheltering anyone involved in the violence.