Kamran Faisal ‘suicide’ case: Probe at a standstill, as case remains unregistered

NAB officers gather outside SC, hold vigil outside deceased’s room.

ISLAMABAD: Four days into the mysterious death of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigator Kamran Faisal, a formal police case is yet to be registered and an investigation initiated.

Faisal, who was investigating the rental power plants scam, involving the prime minister, was found hanging from the ceiling of his hostel room on Friday. Though an autopsy report ruled his death a suicide, the deceased’s family and colleagues disputed the findings and called for a judicial probe.

Police have not yet designated an Investigation Officer (IO) for the case and have been unable to make any headway on the basis of the evidence collected so far.



“His phone record could not be ascertained. For accessing the record, the police need a legal document, a First Information Report (FIR),” said a police official. He added that no one from NAB or Faisal’s family have contacted the police to register an FIR.

Faisal’s brother-in-law Hamid Munir, while speaking to The Express Tribune, said that he would go to the Supreme Court today (Wednesday) with a letter from Faisal’s wife drawing the chief justice’s attention to the incident.

“The FIR would be registered by his (Faisal’s) department,” said Munir, maintaining that he was not aware as to when the department will do it.

Meanwhile, the secretariat police said that they had no plans of questioning NAB HR Director General Kausar Iqbal Malik after certain media reports suggested that he pressurised Faisal to give an affidavit in back dates, stating he wished to be detached from the RPPs case investigations. The police said that they would investigate Iqbal once an FIR was registered and he was named in it.

Police said they have not been contacted by any member of the Judicial Commission to be headed by Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, which the government formed a day after Faisal’s death.

Don’t hamper investigations, Bukhari tells media

According to NAB spokesperson Zafar Iqbal Khan, Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bukhari requested the media to refrain from ‘speculative reporting’ as it might “hamper the investigation process”.

Except for the police’s personal inquiries, no other investigation was underway at present, he said, on Tuesday.

“Investigation will take its time to reach a logical conclusion,” the chairman was quoted as saying.

Candlelight vigil

Meanwhile, more than 40 NAB officers will gather at the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing the RPPs case, today. A meeting among six NAB directors and over 70 officers of the bureau was held in the NAB Rawalpindi office. An official on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that the directors were trying to convince the officers against appearing before the Supreme Court today.

“The officers were being emotionally blackmailed by being told the chairman would resign if the officers appeared before the court,” said the official.

The officers, who had come from different parts of the country also participated in a candle light vigil for Faisal held in front of his room. (With additional reporting by Asad Kharal in Lahore)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2013.