NAB rebuts report on Khurram Humayun suicide

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday vehemently denied a news item published in daily ‘The News’ and ‘Jang’ by terming it as baseless, fabricated, unfounded and an effort to influence the subjudice cases by distorting facts.

A NAB spokesman said in a statement that the news item titled ‘Controller General Accounts Khurram Humayun committed suicide owing to stress of NAB investigations’ published in ‘Daily The News’ and ‘Jang’ on Wednesday (December 30, 2020) has no link with facts.

He said the Bureau has issued denial to Jang group but they had changed the wordings of NAB’s version with the intention to instill negative image of NAB in peoples’ minds. The Bureau has decided to submit that distorted version to accountability court as a proof of mala fide intentions with the plea to take action against the group for publishing distorted NAB’s version and trying to influence the under trial reference. Consequently the law will take its course.

According to details, Khurram Humayun was serving in Benazir Income Support Programme as Director General. NAB has received the complaints against Khurram from Transparency International, Human Rights Cell of Supreme Court of Pakistan and from secretary BISP.

NAB started the investigations against Khurram in 2014, two years prior to assuming charge by the incumbent chairman Justice (R) Javed Iqbal. NAB has also filed a reference against 19 suspects in accountability court, Islamabad for corruption of Rs1.467 billion, which is still under trial. Khurram has not yet proved his innocence in the court.

It is worth mentioning here that on Wednesday December 30, a private TV channel 24 News has flashed a breaking news, while quoting sources that Khurram Humayun has committed suicide after a brawl with his wife.

Dawn has published a news item on Wednesday (Dec 30) titled ‘A Senior Government Official Commits suicide,’ quoting SP Saddar, Rawalpindi Ziaul Haq that the senior official has committed suicide due to domestic issues. -- APP

Zahid Gishkori adds: Colonel Fakhar Humayun, the younger brother of deceased Pakistan's Controller General of Accounts Khurram Humayun, informed the police on Tuesday (Dec 29) that his brother was under deep stress due to a case filed against him.

Fakhar Humayun gave this statement to the Rawat Police, which officially through its registered ‘Roznamcha report’ confirmed that Khurram Humayun had committed suicide. Fakhar stated that his deceased brother's staff officer, Mansoor, had informed him that his boss [deceased Khurram] was under deep stress due to the ongoing NAB’s investigation against him. “Mansoor, staff officer of my brother, told me that Khurram was really upset for many days, and kept telling him that Khurram was in anxiety as the NAB’s case, was framed against him”.

Fakhar quoted Mansoor as saying the very fact of Khurram's anxiety was about the NAB case. The copy of the police document has revealed Col Fakhar's above quoted statement, vindicated in Tuesday's story headlined, “BISP’s corruption reference: controller general accounts commits suicide.”

Col Fakhar further informed the police that his brother was found dead, when he reached the spot at 8:40am and his body was lying on the bed and then guard Yasin and cook Fazal informed him about his suicide. He quoted the servants that his brother had shot himself with a pistol at 7:30am on Dec 29, 2020. Fakhar further informed the police that Fazal told him that he was preparing breakfast for his 84-year-old mother and a 60-year-old sister when he heard the sound of fire.

Fazal immediately informed him on the phone and he rushed to the house. The police report revealed that deceased Khurram told his cook that he would take breakfast later on. The police told this correspondent that they were waiting for the post-mortem report of the deceased, saying the family first permitted post-mortem but later they refused to do so. But the police finally went for post-mortem to find the real cause of his death.

The police said perhaps the pistol was used the first time and the samples were collected from the spot, being sent for forensic tests. The police said the post-mortem report was expected today (Thursday), adding that they have yet to determine who owned the weapon used in the incident.