Editorial

A case of missing cash

FIA insists that the cash went missing when there was a change in the person who was incharge of the storeroom

Editorial May 29, 2017

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has opened an inquiry into the disappearance of Rs1.1 million from the storeroom of its police station in Islamabad. This is a most shocking development and needs the immediate attention of the interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. As the country’s premier civilian agency, the FIA and its staff are required at times to handle large amounts of money which is obtained in the form of seizures. One can ask why such a big amount in cash was being kept in the police station’s storeroom instead of being deposited in the treasury. Here we see both corruption and negligence at play. We are told that officials discovered that the money along with some other documents had gone missing from the room a few days ago. Subsequently, they lodged a case against unidentified people and launched a probe. However, it was not immediately clear whether the amount had been stolen from the room or had been misappropriated by an official.

In its defence, the FIA says that it stores case properties such as cash, jewellery, documents and other items which have been confiscated during investigations in the evidence room. And the agency insists that the cash went missing when there was a change in the person who was incharge of the storeroom. Once again we see that Islamabad Director Mazharul Haq Kakakhel has jumped to the defence of his staff. This is the second time in as many months that this FIA director’s name has been mentioned in the media.

In the last instance, he had defended the trashing of two Norway-bound women passengers by FIA staff and it was only on the intervention of the judiciary that the victims got justice. It is time the FIA higher-ups took a more serious view of things and charged those responsible for this crime. While it is easy for agencies like the Federal Investigation Agency to go after other people who have committed crimes, the real test of such an entity comes when it has to look inward and prosecute its own people. We hope the agency will clear this test and soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2017.

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COMMENTS (1)

Feroz | 6 years ago | Reply What needs to be examined is the register of the Police Station where the money is said to have been deposited and whether such a money deposit has been recorded. FIA can say anything they want but any money transaction is always recorded, if not recorded it is the FIA officials who need to be suspended and not the Police personnel at the Station.

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