Shaukat Tarin joins FIA investigation through video link
Former finance minister fails to satisfy sleuths: Asks for more time to submit his reply: Says telephonic talk with Jhagra was routine affair
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Former federal minster for finance Shaukat Tarin participated in the ongoing investigation of FIA against him through video link on Thursday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Though the former finance czar participated in the Federal Investigation Agency probe against him but he failed to satisfy the grilling sleuths of the inquiry team.
Tarin, however, asked for more time to submit his reply after consulting his lawyers which was granted by the FIA.
Shaukat Tarin said the purpose of his telephonic talk with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra was not to scuttle the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but to seek information about the flood situation in the province.
Quoting its sources, the TV channel reported that while answering the questions of the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing interrogators in audio leak case via a video link, Tarin refuted the allegation that there was something special that he wanted to convey to Jhagra, adding his conversation with him was a routine affair. “Not once during my conversation did I exhort him to write a letter to the IMF against the government,” he clarified.
Former finance minister also said he would appear before the FIA interrogators whenever summoned.
He was also handed a questionnaire by Deputy Director Muhammad Ayyaz and Inquiry Officer Muneeb Ahmad on the occasion.
Sources told 24News TV channel that Tarin would be summoned again for grilling in the case.
The FIA is grilling Tarin in connection with the controversial audio clips attributed to him. In the audio clips that surfaced on August 29, Tarin could be heard telling the Punjab and KP finance ministers to tell the federal government that their provinces could not post a budget surplus.
The FIA issued him a call-up notice on Tuesday to appear before it to record his statement on Wednesday but he failed to turn up. Later, he contacted the inquiry team and informed them that he did not receive any notice. The FIA team then issued him a new summons to his address in Karachi under his legal name asking him to appear at the FIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre, Islamabad on Thursday to record his statement.
Reporter Tayyab Saif