Former minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi is being escorted by FIA personnel as he is arrested after a hearing at Special Judge Central Abdul Nasir's Court on Tuesday. — Photo by Online

ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court handed over former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a five day physical remand on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The FIA had requested the court to hand over Kazmi for a 14-day-long remand.

Earlier on Tuesday, the FIA had arrested Kazmi after a court refused to grant him a pre-arrest bail in a case relating to his alleged corruption in arranging residential accommodation for Pakistani Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia last year.

Mr Kazmi’s lawyer Malik Jawad Khalid had earlier told reporters: “It is a fit case for bail because the FIA has no substantial incriminating material against my client who is being implicated in the case on political and sectarian grounds”.

Mr Kazmi has pleaded on the media and in the court that he had no role in what is described as ‘Haj scam’.