Haneef probe cost Oz taxpayers over $7.5 million

Melbourne, Feb 18: The Australian Federal Police probe of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef and related terror bombings in London and Scotland cost taxpayers over 7.5 million dollars, it has been revealed.

Approximately 5.5 million dollars was spent on employee expenses of which 1.6 million dollars accounts for overtime and approximately one million dollars in supply expenses. Dr Haneef, a Gold Coast registrar, was arrested by federal police at Brisbane Airport last year and detained for a month on terrorism-related charges, which were eventually dropped.

AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty told a Senate estimates committee today that at its height, the investigation involved 249 AFP officers, 225 Queensland Police, 12 officers from the Federal Attorney-General's department, 54 Western Australian police, 40 New South Wales police, six Customs officers, two National Territory police, one Tasmanian police officer, six translators, four other officers from other law enforcement agencies and two UK police posted to Australia.

The staff took over 300 witness statements and dealt with 16 telephone intercepts, six surveillance devices and 22 search warrants. Police also seized 623 gigabytes of computer data and examined 349 forensic samples, The Australian quoted Keelty as telling the Senate. He told the committee that the AFP had changed nothing about the way it conducted terrorism investigations since the Haneef case.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland is expected to announce the details of a judicial inquiry into the Haneef case soon.

ANI