Committee formed to investigate Ajmal Wazir's controversial audio clip

PESHAWAR: A committee has been formed  to investigate  the "leaked audio clip" that accuses former adviser to the KP chief minister, Ajmal Wazir, of receiving kickbacks from an advertising agency, a notification said.

After the clip surfaced, Wazir was denotified from his post.

Wazir has maintained that he had been targeted in a "well-planned conspiracy".

"This is a conspiracy against me. The conspirators have used a vile method to block my way," said the former information adviser.

Retired bureaucrat Sahibzada Saeed will head the committee, while retired judge Muhammad Bashir and a retired police official, Tariq Javed, are part of the team that has been directed to submit the report in three days.

"The commission, through forensics, will find out the reality of the audio clip," the notification said.

According to the notification, the team will apprise the government on the losses incurred to the national exchequer.

The commission will also investigate the officials who were on duty and examine the "transparency" of advertisement deals approved during Wazir's tenure, it said.

Secretary Administration Zahir Shah will be the focal person, while the special branch, forensic lab, anti-corruption, and other relevant departments will support the commission in the probe.

On Saturday, Wazir was removed from his post and Kamran Khan Bangash was given the additional charge of the portfolio of Information and Public Relations in addition to his office of Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Local Government, Elections and Rural Development.

An inquiry into the allegations was ordered by the KP chief minister as soon as the audio clip surfaced.

“Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has desired to process a case for a fact-finding inquiry into the recently surfaced audiotape of Ajmal Khan Wazir, former advisor to the chief minister for information and public relation,” a government statement said.

Meanwhile, Wazir had said that audio clips from various briefings had been cut and stitched together to produce the fabricated audio clip.

"I have nothing to do with the issue on which I am being criticised," he said.

"The advertisement was for the health department, which is chaired by the health minister. I was an honorary member of the committee and I had no authority to make a decision."