Removed FIA officer was also probing PM’s son
Abdul Sattar Khan
LAHORE: The former additional director NCB/Interpol FIA Headquarters, Mirza Sultan Saleem, has not only been sent back to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after he recorded a statement which could implicate Interior Minister Rehman Malik and former FIA DG Waseem Ahmed trying to hinder the probe against Moonis Elahi’s foreign bank accounts, but also been removed from the team probing the Haj Scam.
Mirza Saleem had approached the Abu Dhabi government to collect information about a person who paid the amount for the bulletproof vehicle of Abdul Qadir Gilani, son of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
This disclosure is part of the same statement, which Mirza Saleem primarily recorded before the inquiry team entrusted with the task to identify the FIA officials who delayed vital information about Moonis Elahi’s foreign accounts. The FIA obtained this information from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) United Kingdom (UK) to reach the investigation team probing NICL case for 21 days.
In the same statement Mirza Saleem claimed that after his satisfactory performance, FIA Additional Director General Syed Javed Ali Shah Bukhari had appointed him as member of the Haj investigation team on January 27, 2011 through an official order. “While serving as an additional director NCB/Interpol and as a member of Haj investigation team I wrote a letter on February 2, 2011 to the authorities concerned in Abu Dhabi for the purpose of collecting information about a person and the mode of transfer of the money which was used for the purchase of a bulletproof vehicle bearing UZI-200-4015046 under the use of Abdul Qadir Gilani,” Mirza disclosed in his statement.
However, the statement of Mirza says the Abu Dhabi government refused to provide any such information or confirmation or the evidence under the pretext that such communication should be made through diplomatic channels. “In such a situation further movement on the subject came to an halt,” Mirza stated.
Mirza moved further to annoy the high ups more by gathering information from the officials concerned about those persons who performed Haj at government expense during 2009 and 2010, courtesy to the Interior Ministry. In this context, he wrote a letter on February 5, 2011 for the purpose of gathering information on such persons who were obliged by the government through a letter written by Raja Javed, private secretary to Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
On February 7, 2011, in a meeting, which was convened to discuss the progress made on the Haj scandal, FIA ADG Syed Javed Ali Bukhari informed the participants that the person sitting at the helm of affairs in FIA has told him (Bukhari) that they don’t want to keep two persons namely Mirza Sultan Saleem and Khalid Rasool, FIA deputy director, in the investigation team. Just two days after conveying the desire of the high ups, Mirza was removed as a member of Haj scam investigation team on February 9, 2011 through a letter by Javed Bukhari. And then on March 22, Mirza was asked to leave the charge and the FIA to join his parent department, the NAB.
In the statement Mirza Sultan also drew similarities between the two different cases – one pertaining to Moonis Elahi’s foreign accounts in UK and the second about the transfer of money from abroad by a person for the purpose of a bulletproof vehicle used by the premier’s son.
As per the observation of Mirza Saleem, the nature of both the cases is the same because the information required on both the cases lies outside Pakistan – one is linked to the SOCA, while the other is related to the UAE government.
On these lines, Mirza suggested that both cases should be handed over to one investigation team headed by an FIA ADG instead of assigning two different investigation teams since FIA is still failed to obtain the exact amount of information either from SOCA or UAE government to touch the boundaries of confirmation.
Source: The News
Date:4/30/2011
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