Special FIA cell that probed mega corruption scandals shut down

Around 50 cases the special investigation unit was working on will be transferred to zonal officers

A special cell of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) that probed into mega corruption scandals and 'sensitive' matters has been shut down, Express News reported.

The special investigation unit directly reported to the FIA director general.

After the cell's closure, around 50 cases that it was working on will be transferred to zonal officers.



The special investigation unit was accused of deliberately delaying the proceedings of many high-profile cases.

They included Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri allegedly receiving funds from abroad, the interior ministry purportedly issuing unauthorised no-objection certificates for using bulletproof vehicles and the Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan case.

Cases involving the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution, the Oil and Gas Development Company, the National Insurance Company Limited and other major organisations were also pending with the cell.

Massive shuffling took place in the FIA after Ahsan Iqbal replaced Chaudhry Nisar Khan as the interior minister in August this year.

Many of FIA’s high-profiled officials, who served under Nisar, were either been transferred to other posts or their posting to other department is in the pipeline.

The FIA, which is a border control, counter-intelligence and security agency, is tasked with investigative jurisdiction on operations against terrorism, espionage, federal crimes, fascism, smuggling as well as infringement and other specific crimes.