Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, PakistanThe Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Pakistan has begun sending letters to more than 600 Pakistanis named in the Panama Papers for owning offshore companies, Pakistan daily  the Express Tribune reported today. 

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Federal Board of Revenue spokesperson Dr Mohammad Iqbal told The Express Tribune that the "letters have been sent under Section 176 of the Income Tax Ordinance, which empowers tax officials to seek information about any transaction."

Referring to the names of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s family members in the list, Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan demanded on Saturday that Sharif should be placed on Exit Control List (ECL) by the top court till the probe concludes. 

"Nawaz must tell the Pakistani nation how he made billions of rupees and then transferred it abroad. How much tax he paid on the money through which he purchased apartments in London," the Indian news agency PTI quoted him as saying. He was addressing a rally in Lahore to target the Pakistan Prime Minister over alleged corruption. 

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Sharif wants the Panama Papers issue to be investigated according to laws dictated by his government, he further said. 

 A fraction of the data leaked under the Panama Papers investigation that was published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in April this year included the names about 640 Pakistanis as beneficiaries of offshore holdings, according to the Express Tribune. 

(WION with inputs from agencies)