RPP scam investigator’s body arrives in hometown

MIAN CHANNU: Shrill heartrending wails pierced the cold morning air when the bereaved family members and friends received the body of deceased National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officer, Kamran Faisal, here on Saturday, Geo News reported.

Kamran’s body was transferred to his hometown soon after his autopsy.

Earlier, authorities handed over his body to his maternal uncle in Islamabad, who later brought it to Mian Channu by road.

His funeral prayer is due later today, after which he will be laid to rest in his ancestral village.

Assistant Director (AD), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Kamran Faisal, engaged in the investigation of the high profile case of Rental Power Projects (RPPs), was mysteriously found dead in his room in the Federal Lodges on Friday.

He was found hanging from the ceiling fan when the NAB officials broke into his room, the people who witnessed the scene, said.

A three-member medical board expressed doubts at the death, saying, “This is not like what is being said.” The six-member board concluded the postmortem at 9:30pm but reserved its opinion till tomorrow, a Poly Clinic official said.

The NAB insiders disclosed that Kamran Faisal, who had written the report on the RPPs case, was mentally tortured at the NAB Headquarters by some high-ups to change the report but he refused to budge.

Mohammad Iqbal, a real uncle of the deceased, disclosed that Kamran was frequently receiving threatening calls from unknown persons.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Islamabad, Bani Amin, when contacted, said that the deceased had apparently committed suicide though he had constituted an investigation team headed by SP (City Zone) while ASP (City Circle), DSP (Secretariat Circle) and SHO (Secretariat) were the members of the team. The IGP assured transparent investigation into the case, saying that the probe team would also dig out the possibility of murder among other facets of the incident.

He said that he had requested the authorities that the postmortem should be conducted by the medical board. The IGP said that the deceased had left no letter to ascertain the reason for committing suicide.

The people engaged in the investigation of the case said that the father of the deceased was reluctant to conducting postmortem, saying that he had left the matter to Allah.

Deputy Commissioner (DC), Islamabad, Amer Ali Ahmad, when contacted by The News, said that he had not received any application from the father or relatives of the deceased on exemption from the postmortem. The DC said that he had constituted a medical board to ascertain the facts, adding that the medical board comprised Dr Imtiaz Hassan (Chairman), Dr Javed Ahmad (Pathologist) and Dr Tanveer. Amer said that he had ordered a judicial inquiry to ascertain the cause of death, adding that Nauman Yousaf would be the judicial inquiry officer.

The sources at PolyClinic told ‘The News’ that the administration had added three more doctors to the board, including Dr IU Baig, Dr Iftikhar Ahmad and Dr Altaf Shah.

Father of the deceased, Abdul Hamid Kamboh, a retired official of the agriculture department, when contacted for comments, did not blame anybody but confirmed that his son was under immense pressure due to the high profile case. However, he averred that his son was a man of strong nerves and could not commit suicide.

Kamran’s first cousin and close friend Tayyab and other relatives termed it a murder, claiming that he could never commit suicide and demanded transparent investigation into the case.

They requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the mysterious killing.

The NAB sources said that the NAB office received a telephone call from the father of Kamran Faisal as he was worried about his son, adding that a group of officials was sent to his residence where he was found hanged from the ceiling fan of his room. They said that the NAB chairman reached the spot along with other officials to observe the situation.

Kamran was busy in investigation of 22 accused persons, including Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, but was removed from the investigation for mysterious reasons. The Supreme Court took notice of removal of two investigation officers – Kamran Faisal and Asghar Ali – and said in its order dated 15-1-2012 that by using the name of the apex court these officials were removed from the RPPs case. But it was concluded that none other than the NAB chairman used the name of the Supreme Court to achieve his own motives, as was evident from the record. The NAB chairman was served a notice by the apex court to explain as to why he had falsely used the name of the court.

Abdul Hamid Kamboh, the father of the deceased, said that although his son was facing pressure, he would not blame anybody for the incident. “A high profile case like this can prove to be worrisome for an official belonging to a poor family,” Hamid said adding that his son used to talk about the pressure but never specified the case.

Abdul Hamid said that Kamran Faisal got married seven years ago and left behind two daughters. He said that he was his only son with four sisters.

The police source said that Kamran Faisal was alone in his room (Room-1, Federal Lodges, G-5/1), while his roommate Sajid Toru, hailing from Parachinar, had left for his hometown as his uncle was murdered in a sectarian attack. He said that the deceased AD hanged himself with drawstring (azarband). “He stood on a chair, tied the draw string round his neck and pushed the chair away,” the source said.

The NAB officials, witnessing the circumstances, are raising questions as to who had summoned Kamran Faisal to NAB Headquarters, Islamabad, late in the evening of Jan 16, a day before the NAB chairman appeared before the Supreme Court in the RPPs case.

They wondered if his senior had called him to change his investigation report which was the basis for the Supreme Court’s recent order to arrest the PM and others. They said it was a fact that Kamran refused to change his report thus was taken to the office of top bosses of the NAB on the night of January 16.

The sources disclosed that Kamran Faisal was with his colleagues in the office of Additional Director (Staff) on January 16, when he received a telephone call from one of his bosses to immediately reach the NAB Headquarters Islamabad, adding that Kamran discussed the matter with his colleagues and identified the officer who summoned him.

The sources said that Kamran left for the NAB HQ in a car bearing registration number 2424.

The insiders disclosed that the officer who called him directed him to change his statement for the Supreme Court hearing on Jan 17 and asked to write a new report. They said that he was tense and under pressure but he refused to obey his boss. The sources said that his boss went to his senior who also tried to force him to change the report but he again refused.

The sources said that the investigation officer was mentally tortured for four hours for changing his report, adding that the seniors finally snatched the report saying that he was not cooperating with his bosses. He shared the the matter with his colleagues on January 17.

The people engaged in the investigation of the case said that all the evidences had been collected and two CPUs, his notebooks, some documents and clothes had been taken into custody as initial evidences.