ISLAMABAD, July 9: An accountability court handed over on Tuesday Tauqeer Sadiq, former chairman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the main accused in a Rs82 billion scam, to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on 14-day physical remand.

He had escaped from the country in December last year while the case was pending in the accountability court and the Supreme Court had also initiated suo motu proceedings.

On Nov 25 last year, the apex court struck down Mr Sadiq’s appointment as Ogra chairman.

He was brought back to Pakistan by NAB officials on Tuesday morning and initially kept at the bureau’s headquarters and after a medical check-up was presented before Accountability Court Judge M. Bashir.

An interim reference being pursued by NAB alleges that Ogra Member (Gas) Mansoor Muzaffer Ali, Member (Finance) Kamal Farid Bijarani and Chairman’s Staff Officer Jawad Jameel were also involved in the scam. It accuses Mr Sadiq of causing a loss of Rs82bn to the national exchequer with undue and illegal favours to private companies and persons.

According to the reference, the former Ogra chief and co-accused provided undue financial relief to the firms and individuals and issued licences for CNG stations on bogus documents.

Mr Sadiq alleged that NAB officials had pressurised him to become an approver against certain political figures. His counsel Imran Qureshi said the reference was based on mala fide intentions.

Talking to reporters outside the courtroom, Mr Sadiq said he had been wrongly implicated in the case and that prominent people were involved in the scandal and their names would be disclosed at “proper time”.

He said no corruption had taken place during his tenure as head of Ogra and the reference was an outcome of a trap laid for him by a mafia in the petroleum and compressed national gas sectors.