ISLAMABAD: Police have booked former petroleum secretary Shahid Rafi and some of his associates for putting up resistance during his arrest by officials of the National Account­ability Bureau (NAB), sources said on Saturday.

A case was registered at the Kohsar police station in Islamabad in response to a complaint lodged by NAB’s head constable, Naseer Ahmed, on charges of PPC 186 and 506(ii), for obstructing a public servant from performing official duty and res­orting to criminal intimidation.

According to an entry in the daily crime diary released to the media, when Mr Ahmed went to serve an arrest warrant on Mr Rafi, the suspect along with some armed persons put up resistance and hurled threats at him. However, the FIR mentions the resistance put up by Mr Rafi’s associates only.

The report says that NAB Rawalpindi’s deputy director Asad Janjua, Mr Ahmed and other officials were present at Mr Rafi’s residence in Islamabad’s F-7/1 Sector to arrest him.

The head constable and three officials were standing at the entrance to the house when six to seven armed persons reached there in two vehicles and tried to enter it forcibly, said the FIR, adding that they trained their weapons on the officials and threatened them with dire consequ­en­ces when they were intercepted.

Mr Ahmed and other officials shouted for help, it stated, adding that after a while the armed men got into their vehicles and left the place.

One of the armed men was later identified as a close relative of the former secretary, who reportedly brought along other armed men and tried to obstruct the officials from performing their duties, the FIR said.

A senior police officer told Dawn it was yet to be established from where Mr Rafi’s relative got information about the NAB raid on his residence. Someone in the house might have informed him and he acted violently.

When contacted, SHO of the Kohsar police station Abdul Razzaq said the incident took place when senior NAB officials were inside Mr Rafi’s house to arrest him. All of a sudden the ar­­med persons appeared at the gate and tried to enter the house and threatened the NAB officials guarding it.

Meanwhile, the NAB officials produced Mr Rafi in court in a corruption case pertaining to the Rental Power Plants scheme, initiated in 2008 to meet growing demand for electricity in the country, and sought his remand. After hearing their arguments, the court gave the accused in NAB’s custody for two days.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2019