Pakistani officer Kamran Faisal (shown) was found dead in a hostel in Islamabad on Friday. (File photo)
Pakistan is due to start a probe into the mysterious death of a case officer tasked with investigating the corruption allegations against the country’s Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.
The Interior Ministry appointed a judicial commission “headed by retired supreme court judge justice Javed Iqbal” to investigate the mysterious death of Kamran Faisal within two weeks.
The new commission is empowered to summon anybody from the police, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or other organizations, said Pakistani Interior Minister Rahman Malik.
Faisal’s body was found in the hostel where he lived in Islamabad on Friday, few days after the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the arrest of Ashraf over his alleged involvement in a bribery case in 2010, when he was the minister for water and power.
Following the discovery, a NAB spokesman said that Faisal was “suspected to have committed suicide.” However, his family ruled out the possibility of suicide and raised suspicions about a possible murder by talking of ‘bruises’ on his body.
The Supreme Court has also ordered the arrest of 16 others, including three former ministers, in connection with the allegations against the Pakistani premier.
Yet, NAB chief Fasih Bokhari has defied the arrest order of the Supreme Court, saying there is not enough evidence against the premier. He described the investigation as “inaccurate” and “hurried,” saying that he needed more time to decide whether the prime minister should be arrested or not.
AO/SZH/HJL
