Pakistani Official Investigating PM’s Corruption Scandal Found Dead

A Pakistani official investigating a corruption scandal involving Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was found dead in Islamabad Friday, news agencies reported citing officials.

Kamran Faisal, an investigation officer of the National Accountably Bureau (NAB), was found dead in his official residence, AFP and Pakistan’s Geo News reported Friday.

The Supreme Court Tuesday demanded the prime minister’s arrest in the long-running corruption case, but the head of the NAB, Fasih Bokhari, told the chief justice Thursday that investigations into a mega corruption scandal, relating to Rental Power Projects in 2010 involving Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, had not produced enough evidence to justify an arrest.

"He was found dead in his room. He is suspected to have committed suicide. Police have taken the body. A post-mortem is being carried out," a NAB spokesman told the AFP.

"He was a case officer, an investigations officer in the prime minister's case. We will share further details when we get them," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Sufi cleric Tahirul Qadri ended a mass protest after reaching an agreement with the government Thursday to dissolve the parliament before March 16.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf signed the agreement reached between a government delegation and Qadri, a Canada-based religious scholar of Pakistani origin and the leader of the Minhaj-ul-Quran movement. The latter launched a protest rally Jan. 13 in the eastern city of Lahore wowing to overthrow the “corrupt” government and pave the way for electoral reforms under an interim government of “honest” people.

The terms of the “Islamabad Long March Declaration” stated that assemblies shall be dissolved at any time before March 16 and that the elections may take place within 90 days thereafter.

Lifting the four-day siege of the capital, Qadri said a “successful agreement” was reached with the government, signed by the prime minister and approved by the president.

“It is a day of victory for the marchers and the nation alike,” he declared after a ten-member delegation of the ruling coalition held a marathon session with Qadri to carve out “electoral reforms,” Pakistan’s Express Tribune newspaper reported.

However, given that the government had previously said the parliament would be dissolved March 17, there were hardly any signs of significant reforms brought out by the protest.

The deal sparked jubilation among 25,000 demonstrators in Islamabad who danced and cheered before packing their bags, collecting mattresses and blankets, and getting in their vehicles to leave, the AFP reported.