Leader of the opposition in the Pakistan national assembly Shahbaz Sharif was arrested on Friday in a corruption case.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of Pakistan arrested the former Punjab chief minister from hisLahore office in the Rs14 billion Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme case.
Shahbaz, brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will be produced before an accountability court for remand on Saturday, reports DawnNewsTV.
A heavy contingent of Rangers has been posted outside NAB Lahore, DawnNewsTV reported.
Supporters of the PML-N have started gathering outside the bureau's office. The arrest comes a little over a week ahead of the by-polls scheduled for October 14.
Naeemul Haq, a leader of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), said he was not aware of the facts regarding the former Punjab chief minister's reported arrest.
"I don't have the facts yet to be able to provide a response to this. All I can say is that all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law," he said.
Shahbaz’s blue-eyed officers, Lahore Development Authority former director general Ahad Cheema and Fawad Hasan Fawad, are already in NAB custody in the Ashiana Housing case.