Free Hajj: Minister summoned over irregularities

Officials claim Bilour misused his Hajj quota and accommodated two dozen pilgrims for free Hajj in 2010.

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to summon Railways Minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour regarding obliging pilgrims for free Hajj and misusing the quota of last year’s Hajj arrangements, which have cost two federal ministers their jobs, officials said on Sunday.

Bilour has misused his Hajj quota and accommodated close to two dozen pilgrims for an expenses-paid Hajj under the government scheme in 2010, they claimed.

“We have found ample evidence that various Hajj and Umrah tour operators, using Bilour’s name, managed to acquire seats from his quota and sent pilgrims on a flight sponsored by the interior ministry last year,” the officials said.

When contacted, Bilour said that he is not the only one who obliged his associates and friends for a free Hajj. “It is a long tale of various high-ups who referred their near and dear ones to the interior and religious affairs minister for free Hajj. The person who arranged this special flight must be questioned. I will record my statement and will reveal everything, if they summon me,” he told The Express Tribune.

“Malik Riaz, in connivance with senior officials of ministry of interior, sent pilgrims abroad illegally,” an official said.

They also recorded the statement of Abdul Sattar who provided solid evidence against former State Religious Minister Shagufta Jumani, also allegedly involved in last year’s Hajj irregularities.

In this context, another eyewitness Naseer Ahmad, who himself handed over millions of rupees to MNA Jumani, will record his statement at end of this week. FIA is all set to file a corruption case against Jumani as preliminary investigations found that a portion of bribed money had gone to her family, an investigator said.

The FIA also interrogated some 40 Hajj and Umrah tour operators, who made last year’s pilgrims pay high fares in violation of the rules, set in the policy of private Hajj schemes.

Investigators will again record the statement of former Establishment Secretary Ismail Qureshi who had presided a Special Selection Board meeting on July 20, 2009 which recommended the name of Major (retd) Rao Shakil Ahmad as director general Hajj in Jeddah.

The investigation team also allegedly found Raja Javeed, the private secretary to the interior minister, involved in sending some 450 persons on free Hajj in the last two years.

Meanwhile, FIA sources claimed that the transfer of the head of the FIA investigation team, Hussain Asghar, is likely to halt the investigation process. He was investigating the case when the interior ministry posted him to Gilgit-Baltistan last week.

“There is a strong possibility that the high-ups who were allegedly involved in irregularities are likely to be cleared due to the weak investigation process,” an official told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2011.