FIA Lahore director requests DG to cancel transfers of sugar inquiry team members

LAHORE: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Lahore Director DIG Dr Muhammad Rizwan on Wednesday has written a letter to FIA Director General (DG) Sanaullah Abbasi requesting him to cancel transfer orders of five members of the sugar inquiry team as they don’t fall under the Rotation Policy 2021.

Dr Rizwan wrote a letter to DG FIA that five assistant directors including Syed Ali Mardan Shah, Umaid Arshad Butt, Zawar Ahmed, Shera Umar, and Rana Muhammad Faisal are investigating various high-profile money laundering cases at FIA Lahore.

Referring the clause 4(1) of the FIA Rotation Policy 2021 issued by the interior minister, the FIA director wrote that mandatory rotation doesn’t apply to these officers as their total length of service is less than five years which is well below 10 years period required to transfer an official out of his home province.

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It is pertinent to mention that on Tuesday, FIA DG Abbasi had transferred nine assistant directors including those who were investigating high-profile cases against Shehbaz Sharif, Jahangir Khan Tareen, and others. Ali Mardan and Umaid Butt were investigation officers (IOs) in the cases of Shehbaz Sharif and Jahangir Khan Tareen respectively.

On the other hand, while addressing a press conference at the interior ministry on Wednesday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that FIA DG had issued transfer orders of FIA officials. To a question, the minister said he didn’t know who wanted to cancel transfer orders and why.

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On the direction of the federal cabinet, FIA has been investigating the sugar industry for its alleged money laundering worth billions of rupees after the sugar crisis hit the country in January 2020.