ISLAMABAD – With the Supreme Court already annoyed with the government for delaying the implementation of its orders and assignment of investigation into mega scams to honest and upright officials, the government has once again transferred a senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official at the final stage of investigation into the haj scam.
A source in the FIA told Pakistan Today that the transfer of FIA Director Hussain Asghar and his posting as Gilgit-Baltistan inspector general of police (IGP) would not only delay the investigation process, but might also affect the entire exercise conducted so far to expose the culprits involved in
the scandal.
FIA Director General Malik Muhammad Iqbal has appointed Director Wajid Zia as the new head of the investigation team probing into the haj scam. The FIA team has completed the major part of the investigation and is now preparing its final report for the court. “The abrupt transfer of a sincere official who kept the investigation on the right track is frustrating,” the source said.
The next hearing of the case is fixed for April 22. FIA DG Malik Muhammad Iqbal said it was the government’s prerogative to transfer any official. However, he denied the impression that transfer of Ashgar would affect the ongoing investigation into the haj scam. “We are all professionals, therefore the investigation will move on right direction,” he said.
But another source said the government had attempted to remove Asghar because he remained impartial during the investigation. “He was removed from the investigation of the scam in February soon after he had served a notice on prime minister’s son Abdul Qadir Gilani and raided the house of former minister for religious affair Hamid Saeed Kazmi after the court issued the minister’s arrest warrant,” the source said.
He said the prime minister’s son was accused of taking bribe for appointing Rao Shakeel as the haj DG and got a bullet proof luxury jeep from Dubai. Later, the former FIA DG withdrew the order and Asghar continued heading the investigation team.
