The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, retired Justice Javed Iqbal, on Monday revealed that the watchdog had received threats that its headquarters would be blown up, DawnNewsTV reported.

He said the threats had been received after the bureau initiated investigations in mega corruption scandals, but did not specify a time period.

The NAB chief, who made the revelation during a visit to a bureau office in Lahore, asserted that NAB officials were not afraid and would continue to perform their duties with dedication.

"Our struggle against corruption and malpractices will continue," he said.

Since Javed Iqbal took charge in October last year, NAB has filed 101 references out of 179 mega corruption cases registered with the watchdog.

The new chairman — immediately after taking office — had ordered the prosecution division of the bureau to finalise all 179 mega corruption investigations as soon as possible. During a performance review meeting in April, it was revealed that investigations into 101 cases had been concluded, and that references had been filed in the respective accountability courts.

Later in the day, the caretaker interior minister took notice of the statements made by the NAB chairman and issued directives to increase the security deployment at the NAB headquarters in the federal capital.

Following the directives of Caretaker Interior Minister Azam Khan, IG Islamabad handed over the security of NAB offices to police commandos.