Not "a single piece of evidence" found against Gilani's son in Haj scam

Islamabad, Feb 22 (ANI): Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Director General Waseem Ahmed has claimed that his department has not found "a single piece of evidence" against Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son, Abdul Qadir Gilani, in the Haj scam, adding that he is only being investigated about his luxury bullet-proof jeep.

"He has nothing to do with the Haj scam; he is merely accused of evading duty while importing the jeep," The Dawn quoted Ahmed, as saying.

Ahmed's comments came after the junior Gilani met with the FIA officials, including Ahmed and other investigation officers, and recorded his statement pleading that he had done nothing wrong while importing the vehicle.

Insisting that the purchase of his vehicle does not involve any illegal means, Qadir said: "I have paid the import duty on the vehicle."

Qadir was earlier charged with committing irregularities in arrangement for the pilgrimage. Ahmed himself had informed the Supreme Court on January 6 about two parliamentarians allegations that the Prime Minister's son was involed in the scam.

"Parliamentarians Pirzada Syed Ahmed Imran and Bilal Yasin have not only accused Abdul Qadir Gilani, but also his close friend Zain Mohammad Sukhaira," the FIA chief had told a seven-judge special bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

He, however, came up with a different version of the story after meeting with Qadir, and added: "We do not have a single piece of evidence involving Qadir Gilani in the Haj scam. Although the case of Qadir Gilani is an offshoot of the Haj scam, it is only related to his vehicle." (ANI)