Principal accused in Hajj scam hiding in Saudi Arabia: Investigation officer

Hussain Asghar tells court PM Secretariat is not handing over record concerning the accused to FIA.

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) investigation officer into the Hajj scam told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Prime Minister’s Secretariat was not cooperating with the FIA in handing over the required records related to the main accused of the scam.

Hussain Asghar, who was a senior FIA director at the time he started the inquiry into the scandal, was transferred by the government in April 2011 and appointed as the inspector-general of Giligit-Baltistan. But in June 2012, Asghar was transferred back to the FIA to rejoin the probe into the Hajj scandal on the government’s orders.

In his first appearance in the court after a gap of two years, Asghar told the court that Faiz Ahmad, the principal accused in the case, who purchased buildings at exorbitant rates in Makkah for pilgrims with the connivance of Saudi nationals, took refuge in Saudi Arabia. But the kingdom was not ready to extradite him to Pakistan, despite repeated requests by the FIA. “However, we have issued international arrest warrants for Faiz Ahmad and he could be arrested at any international airport when he leaves Saudi Arabia,” the officer said.

Asghar informed the two-judge bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, that he had sent three reminders to the principal secretary to the prime minister to hand over the records of the accused, but to no avail. Asghar also said that the Establishment Division and the religious affairs ministry were not cooperating in the investigation either.

The bench referred to the Constitution and said that if someone tried to obstruct the investigation there would be consequences to face. It directed the secretaries to the prime minister, establishment and religious affairs ministry to cooperate with Asghar.

The investigation officer informed the apex court that since the focus of the inquiry was to examine the role of Zain Sukhera as a consultant in the ministry of information technology and Rao Shakil as the Director General of Hajj, access to the relevant records of the secretariat was necessary.

He said that the FIA was informed by the controller of examinations of Bahauddin Zakria University that Sukhera obtained a fake degree.

CJ Chaudhry observed that the court would not spare those who looted millions of rupees from Hajj pilgrims.

The court later adjourned the case till the second week of November.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.