Ex-Ogra chief: Officials complicit by inaction

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Monday directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit a detailed report pertaining to officials who deliberately avoided the arrest of former Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Tauqeer Sadiq.

A two-judge bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain resumed the hearing of a case relating to the arrest of Tauqeer Sadiq.

The bench also sought from the FIA the record of fingerprints of all the airports.

Appearing on notice, Inspector General Punjab Police Habibur Rehman told the bench that a three-member team had been sent to Kathmandu, Nepal, to arrest Sadiq, adding that the spouse and their two daughters flew to Kathmandu some days back.

Responding to a query of the bench, Director Legal FIA said that his wife and two daughters left for Kathmandu on Dec 10 from Karachi airport.

He maintained that they had no record about Sadiq’s departure to a foreign country. However, he said Sadiq’s name was placed on Exit Control List (ECL) on January 25, 2012.

During the course of hearing, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain observed that nobody was interested in arresting Sadiq despite the fact that he was responsible for causing a Rs 82 billion loss to the national kitty.

Deputy Prosecutor General NAB Fauzi Kazim informed the court that Shahzad Bhatti, an alleged front man of Sadiq, had been arrested and Rs 6 million had been recovered from him.

The hearing was adjourned till Jan 2.