Rawalpindi  -  A three member inquiry committee on Thursday visited Adiala Jail to record the statement of a senior clerk who caught ration theft, involving the contractor and other officials of the prison department, said official sources.

The three member inquiry committee, formed by Inspector General of Punjab (IGP) Prisons Mirza Shahid Salim Baig, comprised Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Rawalpindi Region Navid Rauf, Superintendent Attock Jail Ishtiaq Gill and Head Clerk Tariq, sources said.

The sources said that the committee summoned the senior clerk Javed Iqbal, who recorded a video of ration theft from jail by contractor Raja Mazhar and his men, and directed it to record his statement.

However, the senior clerk refused to record his statement before the inquiry committee and apprised the head of committee that he (Javed) in a letter written to IG Prisons and Chief Minister had shown his distrust over appointment of DIG Prisons Rawalpindi Region Navid Rauf as head of committee.

Meanwhile, Zafar Iqbal, the elder brother of senior clerk Javed Iqbal, during a telephonic conversation with The Nation, alleged that the high ups of the jail had detained his brother inside a room in the jail and exhorted pressure on him to change his statement about the ration theft case.

“Men of the Superintendent and contractor Raja Mazhar kept standing on the head of my brother and asked him to record a statement before the committee that the day he caught the ration theft and recorded the video, his blood pressure was very high and he was not in his senses,” said Zafar Iqbal. He said however, Javed refused to bow before any pressure and told the committee members he would not change his statement.  IG Prisons Punjab Mirza Shahid Salim Baig did not respond to the phone call and an SMS sent by this correspondent on his cell phone for his version about the ration theft case.