FIA planning action against Jang Group
By our correspondent
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is planning big action against the Jang Group of Publications in Karachi, sources told The News on Saturday.
In Commercial Banking Circle (CBC) of the FIA, leaves of the staff have been cancelled while officials from other wings of the agency have been called temporarily to the CBC for a possible raid on the offices of Daily Jang and The News in Karachi.
For the third consecutive day on Saturday, CBC officials raided the godown of Rehan Paper Mart, a big newsprint dealer in the city, with whom most newspapers store their imported newsprint. For the first time on Thursday the CBC raided the shop and godown of Rehan Paper Mart at Arambagh and New Chali and took into custody five people, including its Director Irfan.
The agency cancelled the ex-Pakistan leave of most senior official in the CBC -- Assistant Director Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman -- just before his departure for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. According to sources, a plan to send Director Rehan Paper Mart Irfan to Islamabad had been shelved, where his confessional statement would have been recorded. Chief of Ehtesab Bureau Senator Saif-ur-Rahman was due to address a press conference in which Irfan was supposed to make 'sensational disclosures against the Jang Group'.
However, owing to various reasons, including reluctance of some official from taking over as the investigation officer (IO) of the case, the plan to send Irfan to Islamabad and Saif's press conference had been shelved for the time being.
However, sources said, the FIR against Rehan Paper Mart had not been registered because the agency utterly failed to find evidence of government's liking. When contacted, CBC Deputy Director Fazal Karim plainly refused to talk to The News.