Anti-graft official committed suicide: Pakistan police to SC

ISLAMABAD: A senior anti-graft investigator, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances while probing corruption charges against Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, had apparently committed suicide, Pakistani police has told the Supreme Court.

Officials of Islamabad Police submitted an initial investigation report regarding the death of Kamran Faisal, an Assistant Director of the National Accountability Bureau, to the Supreme Court yesterday.

The report, based on an autopsy, "revealed suicide as cause of the death", state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Earlier this week, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry formed a two-judge bench to investigate Faisal's death after his colleagues and relatives alleged he was murdered.

The bench subsequently issued notices to NAB Chairman Fasih Bokhari and senior officials of Islamabad Police and a state-run hospital to provide information regarding the death.

In a related development, officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority yesterday submitted records for Faisal's mobile phone, including data on calls and SMS messages, to the apex court.

The bench will resume hearing the case tomorrow. Police registered an FIR on Faisal's death yesterday after being criticised by the Supreme Court for the delay in lodging an official complaint.

The FIR was registered at the request of NAB Assistant Director Noman Aslam, who asked police to ascertain the exact cause of Faisal's death.

Faisal was found hanging from a fan in his room at a government hostel on January 18.

He was probing allegations that Prime Minister Ashraf and other senior political figures had accepted bribes to clear the setting up of "rental power projects".

Though an interim autopsy report concluded Faisal had apparently committed suicide, his family and colleagues disputed the findings and demanded an independent probe.

The government has formed a judicial commission headed by a retired judge to probe the matter.