ISLAMABAD: According to a report published in The News on Tuesday, the investigation commission that looked into the Faizabad dharna issue cleared former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hamid.
As for the matter being investigated by the commission established on the orders of the Supreme Court in the wake of the case pertaining to the 2017 sit-in at Faizabad, which was led at the time by former Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi, former Punjab Rangers director general Major General (retd) Azhar Naveed Hayat has also received a clean sheet.
It was stated that both of the former military officers had distributed cash to protesters who were sitting in the federal capital. Hamid oversaw the counterintelligence division of ISI at the time of the protest.
Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police officer Dr. Akhtar Ali Shah chaired the commission, which also comprised former inspector general Tahir Alam and senior PAS official Khushhal Khan.
Hamid was authorized to sign the agreement as an arbitrator by the then-army chief and ISI director general, the probe body discovered. On November 25, 2017, Hamid signed the agreement, after which the protestors dispersed. Previous interior minister Ahsan Iqbal and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had also consented.