The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has informed an accountability court in Lahore that no evidence of wrongdoing was found against Ahad Khan Cheema — the special assistant to the caretaker prime minister — during an investigation in connection with assets beyond means case from 2018, it emerged today.

The development caps a remarkable turnaround as five years ago, the Bureau itself had accused Cheema of holding property worth billions of rupees in the name of his family members.

He was the first high-profile arrest in Punjab during NAB’s crackdown against corruption in 2018 — seemingly targeted against leaders of the PML-N and those close to it — before the general elections.

The Bureau arrested him on February 21, 2018, when he appeared before its investigation team in an inquiry into the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme.