LAHORE: The “tormentor” of the Sharif family in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during the tenure of Imran Khan has taken early retirement.

Shahzad Saleem, who remained in the headlines between 2017 and 2021 as NAB Director-General Lahore, for proactively pursuing alleged corruption cases against PML-N president Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and their family members, on Wednesday sought an early retirement -- a year before completion of his service.

Mr Saleem was sent to some insignificant department on deputation reportedly as “punishment” after Shehbaz Sharif became prime minister in 2023 in the wake of ouster of Imran Khan through no confidence motion.

In his letter to the NAB chairman, Mr Saleem said owing to health and ‘certain’ other reasons, he was opting for LPR (leave pending retirement). “I would like to opt for LPR and request that I may be allowed to retain the house for two years as I still have no place to shift,” he said. He said he had no allegations proved against him.

“After sustaining an injury during military service, I retired as a major. I was among the founding members of NAB in 1999. I began my career as a Grade-18 officer and eventually rose to Grade-21 as Director General. As DG NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, I broke all performance records, and in April 2017, I was appointed DG NAB Lahore and oversaw recoveries worth Rs947 billion. By comparison, in the 17 years before me, there were total recoveries amounting only Rs44 billion. I remained DG NAB Lahore for five consecutive years, pursued mega corruption cases, and was fully aware that those I proceeded against would retaliate,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2025