Updated on
Summary
The Ministry for religious affairs told Senate standing committee that Hamid Saeed Kazmi issued Hajj quota to 500-800 people against the policy and recommended scrapping of the Hajj mission. Officials of the said ministry told the Standing committees meeting held under the chair of Senator Saleh Shah that Kazmi did away with the Hajj quota earmarked for the 8 to 10 parliamentarians and afterwards took Rs25,000 for each quota. It was further revealed that around 250 people performed Hajj for free thanks to the ministry corrupt top-notch officials. The committee sought the list of all those people who allegedly went to Saudi for free. The committee has also decided to set up another sub-committee to further probe the scam. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik revealed that corruption worth 1.6 million Saudi Riyals took place in the Hajj scam. Earlier, the FIA reportedly arrested Abdullah Khokar, brother-in-law of Hamid Saeed Kazmi, in relation to the corruption case.
