Pak FIA nabs joint secretary in massive fake arms licence scandal - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

An official of joint secretary rank has been arrested for issuing over 30,000 illegal arms licences, a three-member Pakistan Supreme Court bench has been told. Federal Investigation Agency's (Legal) Director Azam Khan told the apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Ghulam Rabbani that Shehzad Salim has been arrested following substantial reports regarding his involvement in the illegal arms license scandal. The bench also dismissed Salim's bail application, The Daily Times reports. FIA Director General Zafarullah Khan told the court that similar investigations have been launched in all provinces and inquiry against 91 accused officials is in progress. Khan also revealed that the state's revenue department has incurred loss of over 6.5 million rupees following hundreds of fake arms licenses issued by the Interior Ministry. The FIA had earlier told the Supreme Court that about one-sixth of about 32,000 arms licenses issued by the Interior Ministry were found to be 'fake'.