Hajj scam: FIA team leaves for Saudi Arabia to unearth evidence

The high-level team will record statements of Pakistani diplomats in Riyadh involved in making arrangements.

ISLAMABAD: A high-level team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) flew to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to unearth evidence of irregularities in Hajj affairs.

The FIA is probing into an embezzlement of millions of rupees in Hajj affairs, the crossfire over which provoked Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani into axing two federal ministers from the cabinet three days back.

The FIA team will record statements of Pakistani diplomats in Riyadh and other officials involved in making arrangements for Hajj this year. The two-member team will also meet Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ali Khan Sherazi.

The head of FIA’s investigation team, Hussain Asghar, told The Express Tribune that FIA has deputed four teams comprising 11 senior officials to investigate the Hajj scam in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Riyadh.

Investigators will grill all the officials involved in the mismanagement, for which pilgrims had to pay an additional Rs35 thousand per head.

“The two-member team consisting of deputy director Khalid Rasool and Mohammad Sabir will also try to nab Ahmad Faiz, a Pakistani citizen living in Saudi Arabia for his role in the scam,” he said.

The FIA team will also visit the Saudi Minister for Hajj, Dr Abdul Salam Al Farooqui and Deputy Hajj Minister Hatim Hasan Qazi, to brief them about ongoing developments.

The FIA team sent questionnaires to former Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, and Agha Sarwar Qazalbash, now working as Officer on Special Duty (OSD).

The FIA team is investigating the alleged involvement of Joint Secretary, Religious Affairs Ministry, Raja Aftabul-Islam, who headed the committee responsible for making arrangements in Makkah and Medina.

The remand of Islam was further extended by the magistrate on Thursday to allow the FIA more time for interrogation.

Former DG Hajj Rao Shakil is already in FIA’s custody on allegations of corruption. Senior civil judge Kamran Bisharat Mufti gave him in the custody of Special Investigation Unit on judicial remand.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had expressed dissatisfaction over FIA’s performance at the last hearing. The apex court has ordered the agency to submit a detailed report on their findings.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2010.