NAB officers should not sustain any pressure, says Javed

KARACHI: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal asked the Bureau officers not to sustain pressure from any side and work without any fear and favour. He said that the officers who could not work with him should go home as he termed complete elimination of corruption from the state-institutions and society his top priority.

He said this while addressing a ceremony at the Karachi NAB office. While equating corruption with cancer, Javed Iqbal vowed to cripple the roots of menace of corruption. He said, “Efforts are underway for corruption-free Pakistan.”

He termed Karachi NAB one of the most important pillar of the organisation. He extolled Karachi office for fruitful action against the corrupt elements on basis of concrete evidence and bringing the looted money back. He reiterated to tackle corrupt elements with an iron hand.

Meanwhile, the NAB officials questioned Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, son of former Punjab chief minister and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, in connection with an inquiry pertaining to offshore companies.

The sources say that Moonis Elahi was grilled by a three-member team of the Bureau about offshore companies for over an hour before he was allowed to leave the NAB office. The PML-Q leader could be summoned one more time to submit details of his offshore company if the team didn’t find his fresh statement satisfactory.

This is the second time Moonis Elahi appeared before the NAB team probing offshore companies as he showed up before it on Jan 30 in response to its summon to have his statement recorded. The anti-graft watchdog has launched an investigation into the Panama Papers exposing politicians who owned offshore companies. It has also summoned PTI leader Aleem Khan in connection with the inquiry. The Panama Papers triggered a massive probe into the offshore companies owned by the Sharif family, which led to the ouster of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in July last year.