Ex-OGRA chief hiding near PM Secretariat: NAB

Spokesman rejects allegations of protecting the accused till the passing of a new accountability law.

LAHORE:

The elusive former chief of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Tauqir Sadiq, is said to be hiding in the territorial jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, states a report submitted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to the Supreme Court.

The report, submitted to the court on October 12, says a letter was dispatched to inspector general of police, Islamabad, asking him to arrest Sadiq since he is reportedly hiding around the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, and within the jurisdiction of the force.

Sadiq, who has been accused of being involved in an Rs83 billion financial scam, has successfully evaded arrest so far.

He earlier wrote an email to The Express Tribune maintaining he had left the country, but NAB officials said intelligence agencies had confirmed he was, in fact, still in Pakistan.

The apex court has repeatedly expressed reservations over NAB’s reluctance to arrest Sadiq.

According to some sources, bigwigs such as Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and his predecessor Yousaf Raza Gilani are amongst those accused of being involved in the scam.

Some allege that authorities are trying to delay arrests till the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party succeeds in passing its new accountability bill into law. The new law, which would repeal the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, will place a bar on opening graft cases more than 10 years old.

Insiders said the reference against this particular corruption case was duly signed by the incumbent NAB chief on September 26, but has not been forwarded to the relevant accountability court as yet.

The bureau’s spokesman Zafar Iqbal told The Express Tribune the reference would be filed in the next two or three days, adding that all allegations against the authority for protecting the accused till the passing of the new accountability law were baseless.

The report also cites an incident where the licence plate of a vehicle believed to be used by the accused for travelling from Lahore to Islamabad was disclosed to the police so they could intercept Sadiq on the motorway.

It adds that owners of CNG stations, which were relocated during Sadiq’s tenure as Ogra chairman, were also being interrogated to assess the impact the move had on the national exchequer.

The report mentions two news reports published by The Express Tribune on October 8 and 10 titled “Ex-chairman of OGRA plays hide-and-seek with sleuths” and “Ex-OGRA chief approaches UN”.

Sadiq maintains he has approached the United Nations claiming to be a victim of “human rights violation”. He says the court has not given him a fair chance to defend himself.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2012.