Mega scam: NAB arrests Balochistan CM’s ex-adviser outside BHC

Khalid Langov resigned after Rs730m recovered from provincial finance secretary’s residence

QUETTA: The National Accountability Bureau on Wednesday formally arrested Balochistan chief minister’s former finance adviser Mir Khalid Langov after the high court rejected his bail plea in a mega corruption scam.

Langov stepped down after NAB recovered more than Rs730 million, including foreign currency and gold, from the Quetta residence of provincial finance secretary Mushtaq Raisani earlier this month.

NAB Balochistan issued three summonses to Langov but he did not respond. On May 18, he appeared before the Islamabad High Court where he said he would appear before the Balochistan High Court in the next 12 days.

However, on Wednesday a two-judge BHC bench, comprising Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Hashim Kakar, rejected a bail petition submitted by Langov in the IHC and ordered him to appear before NAB and defend corruption charges.

Earlier, Langov’s counsel Baaz Muhammad Kakar urged the court to discourage NAB’s ‘unlawful acts’ and order it to work under the constitutional jurisdiction. However, NAB’s lawyer urged the court not to accept Langov’s bail application unless investigations were completed.

He told the court that finance secretary Mushtaq Raisani had been booked for stealing billion of rupees of public exchequer and was being interrogated.

The court asked the NAB if it had any proof that Rs730 million were recovered from Raisani’s residence. NAB told the court that all concerned departments were present on May 7 when the amount were recovered and counted.

Later, NAB arrested Langov from outside the BHC and shifted him to the provincial headquarters for further investigation. According to a NAB spokesperson, Langov will be presented before an accountability court today (Thursday) to get his physical remand.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2016.