ISLAMABAD - Former army officer and defence analyst, Brigadier (Retd) Asad Munir was found dead at his apartment in the Diplomatic Enclave here Friday a day after the NAB approved investigation against him for alleged misuse of powers.

According to the local police, there were strong indications that the deceased had committed suicide as his dead body bore no visible bruises or any marks of violence.

While on the other side, family of the deceased opted not to get autopsy of the dead body and they took back his body from the PIMS hospital upon completion of the legal formalities.

The police said a report under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which deals with cases of suicide, will be compiled.

SP (City) Islamabad said that a case could not be registered as the family did not want to get autopsy of the dead body.

Doctors at the PIMS hospital, where the dead body was taken, also confirmed that the post-mortem was not performed before the body was handed over to the family.

According to the doctors, there was no sign of any bruises or physical resistance on the dead body, and ruled out the possibility that he (the deceased) might have been murdered.

It is to be mentioned here that the former army officer was under the NAB investigation for his alleged misuse of powers for the restoration of a plot in Islamabad back in 2008.

Munir had served as Member (Estate) CDA from 2006 to 2010.

The deceased was a former intelligence operative with extensive experience of working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas.

At one point, he was the incharge of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) in Peshawar. Following his retirement from the military, he had also worked as a defence analyst.

A day earlier, NAB had approved the launch of two fresh inquiries and three references, one of which was against Munir.

According to some unverified reports, the retired brigadier left behind a suicide note in which he purportedly cited NAB’s actions against him as the reason for his decision to commit suicide.

However, police officials at the Secretariat Police, on condition of anonymity, told this scribe that they did not find any such note from the spot. “Nothing of the sort (suicide note) is in our knowledge”, said an official privy to the development.

The death was widely condoled by politicians, activists and other prominent members of Pakistan’s intelligentsia.