Govt names Aftab Sultan to head inquiry team

Published
0

Former president of Bank of Punjab Hamesh Khan (C) who is the main accused in the BoP scam, leaves for the Supreme Court in police custody in Islamabad on May 26, 2010. — AFP
ISLAMABAD The government appointed on Friday Aftab Sultan, an Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP), Punjab, as the head of a team which will investigate the Bank of Punjab's (BoP) loan scam, which might turn out to be much bigger than the current estimate of Rs9 billion.

Mr Sultan has been given the task for which a former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and incumbent Secretary of Narcotics Control Division, Tariq Khosa, was nominated by the Supreme Court.

However, on a request from the government, the apex court allowed the government to appoint any person in place of Mr Khosa.

The government on Friday submitted a list of three bureaucrats to the Supreme Court, pleading that it could not spare Mr Khosa for the job. The court accepted the government's plea, allowing it to appoint anyone from the three-member panel in consultation with Mr Khosa.

“We have written a letter to the government of Punjab to requisition the services of Mr Aftab Sultan,” a NAB spokesman said.

Mr Sultan will assist the NAB chairman in investigating the fraud, which is expected to unmask many faces who had obtained loans from the bank but did not pay back.

It is likely that the BoP loan scam might exceed Rs9 billion as an inquiry being conducted against its ex-chief Hamesh Khan unfolds some other frauds committed by the bank's management.

A new case that came to the knowledge of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) related to an ex-provincial minister of Punjab, Mr Raees Munir of PML-Q, who had allegedly taken a loan of Rs120 million from the bank to purchase an immovable property.

Mr Hamesh Khan claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had forced him to pay Rs500 million from the bank and become an approver against Chaudhries of Gujraat.

Opinion

Editorial

Urban flooding
Updated 02 Aug, 2026

Urban flooding

THE warning from the disaster management and weather authorities that a new monsoon spell could trigger urban...
Fatal workplaces
02 Aug, 2026

Fatal workplaces

THE methane explosion near Quetta that killed 34 coal miners is the latest entry in Pakistan’s long register of...
Dual standards
02 Aug, 2026

Dual standards

IT appears that the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has fallen foul of the Election Commission of Pakistan. A...
Maritime alliance
Updated 01 Aug, 2026

Maritime alliance

AS the US-Iran war drags on, new battle lines are being drawn. The pro-US Gulf Arab monarchies and Iran have enjoyed...
Local governance
01 Aug, 2026

Local governance

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s speech at a business summit on Thursday has stirred a hornet’s nest. His...
Murders in Balochistan
01 Aug, 2026

Murders in Balochistan

GOOD news is scarce in Balochistan. Seven labourers were abducted and gunned down in Turbat city recently. Four...