LAHORE: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday revealed that corruption worth 1.6 million Saudi Riyals took place in the Hajj scam.
Earlier, the FIA reportedly arrested Abdullah Khokar, brother-in-law of Hamid Saeed Kazmi, in relation to the corruption case.
Updated from print edition (below)
Hajj scam: Hamid Saeed Kazmi’s brother-in-law arrested
The Federal Investing Agency (FIA) is reported to have arrested another accused involved in the Hajj corruption scandal.
Officials said that FIA officials on Sunday arrested Abdullah Khokhar, the brother-in-law of the sacked minister for religious affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, on charges of receiving Rs200,000 each from a number of intending pilgrims as “advance” for “securing Hajj visas”.
The FIA Punjab Director, Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, confirmed Khokhar’s arrest and said that the accused would soon be handed over to the FIA Islamabad.
In a related development, joint secretary of the ministry of religious affairs Raja Aftabul Islam will be presented in a civil court on Monday as the court resumes the hearing in the Hajj corruption case at the expiry of the remand period, the Online news agency said. During the last hearing, the FIA had requested the court to extend the physical remand of the accused “to help with the ongoing investigation”. Civil judge Kashif Qayyum had extended the physical remand of Aftabul Islam in police custody for three more days.
It is learnt that FIA investigators had seized the accused’s personal laptop and moved to freeze his bank accounts. The FIA will also inform the court about the progress in investigations.
A few days ago, FIA sent a team of its investigators to Saudi Arabia in a bid to approach the Saudi prince who had sent a letter to the Supreme Court which played a key role in the apex court taking action on its own.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2010.
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