RPPs case: Judicial panel to probe NAB officer’s death

Police summon four NAB officials for questioning, including deceased officer’s supervisor.

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government formed a judicial commission on Sunday to probe the death of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigator who allegedly committed suicide last week.

On Friday, NAB Assistant Director Kamran Faisal was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room in the Federal Lodges.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior in this regard on Sunday, the commission will be headed by Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. The notification adds that Justice Iqbal will select two officers to be part of the commission later. The officers will be of grade-20 or above. The commission will present its report within two weeks.

Meanwhile, seeking answers to the unclear circumstances surrounding Faisal’s death, police summoned four of his NAB colleagues to record their statements. NAB Assistant Director Asghar Khan, Faisal’s supervisor and a fellow investigator in the rental power projects (RPPs) case, was among those asked to appear before Secretariat Police. Apart from Asghar, data entry operators Momin Khan and Sohaib Ahmed, and naib qasid Muhammad Najeeb were summoned for questioning. Under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, police are empowered to hold inquests to ascertain facts related to the cause of death in a suspected suicide case.

“The facts ascertained from questioning may lead to the registration of an FIR if police find enough grounds for suspicion that a criminal act caused his (Faisal’s) death,” a senior police officer told The Express Tribune. Alternatively, the request for registering a criminal case would have to come from his family, he said, adding, “They still haven’t contacted the police.”



During initial investigations, police seized Faisal’s phone and desktop computer to secure any data that could provide possible leads in the case.

Vague circumstances

Several unanswered questions prompted police to probe Faisal’s death, which had been ruled a suicide by a five-member medical board: Who discovered the body first? Why did NAB officials break into Faisal’s room before police reached the crime scene? If it indeed was a suicide, what drove him to it?

“NAB officials made a blunder by breaking into his room and discovering the body without waiting for police to arrive,” said a police officer investigating the case.

According to a NAB official, speaking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, it was ‘strange’ how news of Faisal’s death was circulating in the bureau’s offices even before police recovered the body and the media reported the incident.

Medical report

Quoting one of the members of the medical board that examined Faisal’s body, an officer of the law told The Express Tribune that all elements required to rule the death a suicide were found during examination.

“His neck bone was broken, there were signs of strangulation, rope marks were found on his neck… there were no bruises, no marks of torture on his body and his tongue was found tightly locked between his teeth,” he said.

However, in their final remarks in the medical report – a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune – the five-member board maintained the death was caused by ‘strangulation, which was most probably suicidal in nature’. Further confirmation would be done after receiving the chemical examiner’s report, they added.

NAB speaks

NAB spokesperson Zafar Iqbal Khan released an official statement on Sunday, clarifying certain facts reported by a section of the media which he claimed were untrue.

“Asghar Khan was the main investigating officer in the case, while Kamran Faisal was assisting him. At every stage of investigation, reports were signed by Asghar, not Faisal… Had the chairman or any other senior officer wanted to modify the report in any way, they would have contacted Asghar and not Faisal,” maintained Zafar.

He said it was possible that Faisal was under pressure since he requested both NAB and the Supreme Court (SC) to take him off the RPPs case. The NAB spokesperson’s statement added that the NAB Rawalpindi director general, in a letter dated January 7, 2013, recommended Faisal be detached from the case.

“The letter mentioned that Faisal was experiencing mental stress and psychological trouble. His detachment was approved by the NAB chairman the same day, but the SC ordered his reinstatement,” he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2013.