NAB says audio clips being associated with its chairman are 'fake, based on lies'

Published May 24, 2019
The anti-graft body says that the purpose of the audio clips was to "damage the goodwill of NAB and its chairman" (pictured). — APP/File
The anti-graft body says that the purpose of the audio clips was to "damage the goodwill of NAB and its chairman" (pictured). — APP/File

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday denied that a series of audio clips aired by a private TV channel have anything to do with its chairman Javed Iqbal, branding them "baseless, fake and based on lies".

The bureau was referring to some footage and a few audio clips — first aired by News One — in which a male can be heard talking to a woman, and making inappropriate remarks at various points.

While the TV channel linked the male voice with the NAB chairman, the corruption watchdog has vehemently denied the allegation, labelling it "the propaganda of a blackmailers' group".

The bureau, in its press release, said that the purpose of the audio clips was to "damage the goodwill of NAB and its chairman".

The anti-graft body said that "the news channel [too] has not only already admitted that the news was fake and contrary to the facts but also apologised to the NAB chairman for causing him distress."

NAB said that it has "not only already arrested two members of the blackmailing group but also approved the filing of references against them".

It further said that the suspected group is nominated in 42 FIRs (first information reports) across the country on allegations of blackmailing, kidnapping for ransom and mass robberies — the evidence of which "NAB already has".

NAB identified an individual named Farooq as the group's ringleader, saying that he is "currently incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat Jail".

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...