ISLAMABAD: A special team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has approached Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Abdul Aziz in an effort to collect more evidence related to the multi-million rupee Hajj scam.
Prince Khalid is reported to have written a letter to the Supreme Court last month saying, “There were concrete evidences of financial bungling and departmental corruption as far as the Hajj affairs of the Pakistani ministry are concerned.”
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in response to the letter, directed the Hajj ministry to furnish a detailed response within two weeks on the accusations made by the Saudi prince.
“The FIA team has approached the Saudi prince and will be holding a meeting with him within three days to collect evidence that Saudi authorities wanted to share with us,” a senior official of the agency told The Express Tribune.
The official said that the two-member team recorded statements of Pakistani diplomats in Riyadh and other officials involved in making arrangements for Hajj this year. “The team will also record statement of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ali Khan Sherazi on Monday. He is one the complainants involved in this episode,” he said.
The FIA team will also hold a meeting with Saudi Minister for Hajj, Dr Abdul Salam al Farooqui and Deputy Hajj Minister Hatim Hasan Qazi next week to brief them about the investigation.
On Saturday, the team collected information from Pakistani officials in Jeddah who dealt with Hajj arrangements.
“Three officials named Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Raza and Jamali have been questioned in this regard,” the official said.
The pilgrims were charged between 3,000 and 4,000 Saudi riyals for the accommodations which should not have cost more than 1,500 riyals.
All individuals hired for Hajj arrangements are being questioned by the FIA’s team. This process is likely to conclude by the end of this month, officials said.
The two-member team, consisting of Khalid Rasool and Mian Mohammad Sabir, will submit their findings before the Supreme Court by the first week of the next month, they added.
The team, however, could not get hold of Ahmad Faiz, a Pakistani citizen living in Saudi Arabia who is believed to be involved in the scam, a senior official of the FIA told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the FIA has approached Minister for Labour and Manpower Khurshid Shah, who recently assumed the charge of the ministry of religious affairs, to keep him updated on the investigation.
The agency is interrogating former director-general Hajj Rao Shakil, Secretary Hajj Agha Qazalbash, joint secretary Raja Aftabul Islam, the sacked minister for religious affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi and others believed to be involved in the scam. Rao Shakil and Raja Aftabul Islam are currently in FIA custody and are facing a court trial.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2010.
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