FIA lying about Sadiq’s Abu Dhabi arrest: SC

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday had reported that former Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) chief Tauqir Sadiq had been arrested with assistance of Interpol in Abu Dhabi. Sadiq is accused of misusing authority, embezzling funds and causing Rs 82 billion losses to the national exchequer. He allegedly converted operating income (regular income) into non-operating income in violation of an agreement signed with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, and is accused of relocating several CNG stations and illegal appointments. Sadiq is the brother-in-law of Pakistan People’s Party’s Secretary General Jehangir Badr. On Tuesday, a private TV channel had reported that NAB would be presenting a report in the SC in which the Bureau claimed that Sadiq had managed to escape arrest with the help of his close relative Jehangir Badr and Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The report said that Badr helped Sadiq escape to Islamabad through the Motorway (M-2), and then helped him flee the country with Malik’s help.
However, during Thursday’s hearing of the case the FIA Director Legal Muhammad Azam Khan told the Supreme court that he had no credible information regarding arrest of Tuaqir Sadiq.
He added that Sadiq had been traced in the UAE and that he was under surveillance. Dissatisfied by the confusing statements of FIA regarding Tauqir’s arrest, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja remarked that mere confusion was being propagated since the past four weeks regarding the arrest of Tauqir, adding that punitive action would be decreed against police and FIA officials if the court found that they were of any assistance to Tauqir.