Hajj scam: Ministry to summon Jeddah officer

FIA asks religi­ous affair­s minist­ry to summon assist­ant accoun­ts office­r deploy­ed at Jeddah for...

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has asked the ministry of religious affairs to summon its assistant accounts officer deployed at Jeddah for questioning in the ongoing probe into alleged corruption in Hajj arrangements.

The accounts officer, Samiullah, was a member of the committee which hired residential buildings in Saudi Arabia for around 80,000 Pakistani pilgrims, sources said on Saturday.

Former director-general Rao Shakeel Ahmed and joint secretary (Hajj) Aftabul Islam Raja are already in FIA custody over their alleged involvement in malpractices.

On Friday, a nine-member FIA team had questioned Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi in the Hajj ministry. The FIA team is headed by its director-general Waseem Ahmad.

A parliamentary hiring review committee after visiting Saudi Arabia had submitted a report before the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on religious affairs and exposed massive corruption in the building acquisition process.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2010.