The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday filed a complaint with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif for alleged corruption in the Multan Metro Bus project.

The complaint filed by PPP South Punjab General Secretary Shaukat Basra accuses CM Shahbaz and others of "embezzlement of funds, misuse of authority and receiving kickbacks" in the Metro Bus project.

The move comes days after ARY News journalist Hamza Farooq alleged that a report released by a Chinese regulatory authority stated that the Punjab CM had received over Rs10 million in kickbacks from the project.

Farooq had reported that the Chinese regulator found discrepancies in a company's income that had business links to a firm in Pakistan. On further investigation, the Chinese board allegedly discovered that the company in Pakistan belonged to Shahbaz Sharif.

He also reported that a letter was sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) by the Chinese regulatory authority, however, then chairman Zafar Hijazi had allegedly "buried the case".

Sharif refuted the allegations against him in a press conference in Lahore yesterday, asking: "Is it a joke to level such serious allegations against someone?"

Shahbaz had vehemently rejected the allegations, saying that "if anyone can prove a penny of corruption against me, they can hold me accountable".

The PPP complaint alleges that public money had been embezzled in the project and an investigation into the matter is underway in China.

Basra, via the application, requested NAB to initiate an inquiry in the matter against Sharif and all others involved to "unearth corrupt practices" in the project, adding that the "integrity and respect of the government of Pakistan is also at stake" since the project was completed by a Chinese company.