Pakistan (private) Ltd.

Irfan Iqbal Puri

False detention, torture and extortion by The Government of Pakistan


Mr Irfan Iqbal Puri was falsely picked up by the Pakistani intelligence services in 1999 for no reason other than his business success. He was wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by the Government of Pakistan.

Government officials driven by greed and resentment subjected Mr Puri to a total of six months illegal detention including two months of 24 hours a day solitary confinement. This included a 14 day period of solitary confinement at The Attock Fort, in a 4ft x 7ft dark death cell. During his detention at The Attock Fort, Mr Puri was not shown day light for the 14 days. Moreover, he was physically, mentally and verbally abused, the effects of which still scar him today.

Mr Puri was finally released after individuals representing Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) extracted Rs. 300 million from him under duress. Since his detention in 1999 neither the Government nor the military have set out the nature of their allegations against him. In July 2007 the NAB finally issued a court order accepting that after a span of nearly a decade they had been unable to find an allegation against Mr Puri or file any reference against him. The Rs. 300 million remains outstanding and The Government of Pakistan have yet to be held accountable for its actions.

Mr Puri was victimized for pure pleasure and greed.

The following is a harrowing accountant of Mr Puri’s appalling treatment by the Government of Pakistan.

1. Mr Puri is an established and successful businessman. His commercial interests include membership of the Karachi Stock Exchange, UK financial services, infrastructure development, the export of value added consumer products from Pakistan and the importation, export, storage and trading of commodities. Prior to his arrest on December 15, 1999, Mr Puri carried on his business in Pakistan with hard work, integrity and acumen. At an age of 37 he had earned a valuable reputation for honesty and fair play in all his dealings, national as well as international. The Government of Pakistan sought to damage and destroy Mr Puri’s good name and reputation.

2. NAB without making any good faith investigation or inquiry, which was obligatory on them, arrested Mr Puri, on December 15, 1999 from his office at Karachi. On the Jan 16, 2000, the victim was forced to sign some pre-dated documents, at Malir.

3. The arrest was not based on reasonable grounds. Mr Puri was never informed of the grounds for his arrest. He was detained at Malir Cantonment for about seven weeks until February 12, 2000. He was then was shifted and kept at National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Police Station at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi. On February 27, 2000, he was transferred to The Attock Fort where he was confined until March 11, 2000 at which point he was moved back to Karachi.

4. At Malir Cantonment, he was interrogated several times by the Joint Investigation Team, which included F.I.A and army personnel. Members of the Joint Investigation team searched and collected extensive records of Mr Puri’s personal and commercial affairs in a futile endeavour to find evidence of corrupt practices. The thrust of the inquiries related to foreign currency accounts and evasion of income tax. Mr Puri maintained and explained that in view of the Tax Amnesty Scheme announced by the Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharaf, on December 15, 1999 and in view of the provisions contained in the protection of Economic Reform Act 1992, there was no warrant or justification for the Joint Investigation Team to investigate his foreign currency accounts and income tax matters. Mr Puri was detained due to a malicious complaint by Mr. Mohammad Taufiq El Khattani a man motivated by enmity, greed and a desire to extract money from his ex-employer, Saudi Pak LPG. Mr. Khattani was pressurizing Mr Puri to use his business influence on Saudi Pak LPG to which he did not agree.

5. During his confinement at Malir Cantonment, Mr Puri was kept in solitary confinement with effect from January 15, 2000 until he was transferred to the NAB police station situated at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi.

6. Due to the extreme agony and distress caused by Mr Puri’s detention, the mental and physical health of his wife, Mrs Naveen Puri was gravely affected and tragically she suffered a miscarriage.

7. On numerous occasions Mrs Naveen Puri, through her lawyers, requested NAB to inform her of the grounds for her husband’s arrest and to allow clarification of any alleged corruption. However, NAB failed to provide any such information and failed to provide any justification for the detention of Mr Puri. In fact, NAB had no valid reason for the arrest and detention of Mr Puri.

8. On February 12, 2000 Mr Puri was shifted to the NAB Police Station at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi where he was kept in solitary confinement without any facilities. He was not allowed to meet anyone and was neither provided with proper food or medical facilities despite numerous requests. These requests were of the utmost importance as Mr Puri has suffered with a heart problem since his childhood. Here too he was interrogated and threatened that his family members would also be arrested if he would not agree with NAB.

9. On February 27, 2000, Mr Puri was flown to Islamabad and taken to The Attock Fort. There he was confined in a solitary cell, measuring about 4 feet x 7 feet with 18 feet high walls. The cell contained a yellow zero watt bulb suspended from an extremely high ceiling and a flat sheet steel door. The poor light was such that Mr Puri could not even read the Quran. In fact, Mr Puri did not see daylight for 14 days. He went through a series of day and night interrogations. As a form of torture he was forced to keep his hands above his head for hours on end. He was beaten, hooded in sack cloth and thrown from one to prison guard to another. He was subjected to the worst verbal, physical, mental torture. He was threatened with the loss of his own life and the lives of his family. Sleep deprivation methods were used upon him. He would be taken out of the cell in the middle of the night, his head covered with a black sack/hood and a band tied over the hood and around his eyes. Army guards would lift him up suspended in the air by his arms during interrogation. He would then be dragged to another room where he would be interrogated for hours on end. Time and time again he would be asked what his family members were willing to pay to save his life. They would threaten him that if he would not pay up his family members would also be arrested and brought to The Attock Fort. Indeed, his family received phone calls in the middle of the night from FIA/NAB officials making threats and demanding that family members visit the NAB office/FIA centre. Mr Puri saw sunlight for the first time in 14 days when he was taken out of his cell at the end of his detention in Attock. In a cruel and callous act, Mr Puri was not allowed to cover his eyes from the bright sunlight he had not seen for 2 weeks.

10. After spending 14 days in this death cell, Irfan was allowed to meet his father and wife in the presence of the military. His father told him that the NAB officials had been making threatening phone calls to Irfan's father asking him to come over to the NAB offices. That was the final breaking point for Mr Puri, he asked his dad to wait for two days and that he would try is best to settle one way or the other with NAB. This was an extremely painful time for Mr Puri but the use of threats to the safety of his family pushed him to the edge.

11. Mr Puri’s ordeal at the hands of NAB including unlawful arrest, extreme physical and mental torture resulted in him suffering a complete nervous breakdown and severe deterioration in his heart condition. He lost more than 12 kg in weight.

12. He finally broke down under threat, intimidation and coercion and it was in such a condition that he agreed to make payment of sum of Rs. Three Hundred Million to the NAB.

13. After his verbal agreement at The Attock Fort to arrange for payment of Rs. 300,000,000/-, he was brought to Karachi on PIA flight from Islamabad in handcuffs on March 11, 2000.

14. At the NAB Police Station in Karachi he was threatened, pressurised and coerced to agree in writing to the payment of Rs. 300 million, of which Rs. 100 million had to be paid in advance before his release. He was told, "there is no law just pay up".

15. The FIA and other staff of NAB started visiting the offices and family home each day harassing the staff members and hindering their work making it impossible to run a business. The offices were surrounded by FIA, NAB, Rangers and military personnel demanding the remaining payment and threatening dire consequences otherwise. The abuse stretched to a point where some senior office executives were made to strip naked. This represents torture and harassment of an appalling nature.

16. Mr Puri was also coerced into handing over property documents as "security" for payment of the remaining amount of Rs. 200,000,000/- (Rupees two hundred million). In fact he handed over original property documents to NAB of five (5) properties with an aggregate value of Rs. 400,000,000/- (Rupees Four Hundred Million).

17. Even after all this, NAB did not release him, but kept him under house arrest / unlawful detention until June 14, 2000.

18. Whilst Irfan, was under house arrest two dozen Rangers were stationed around the clock in and around the house.

19. Mr Puri, was ultimately released from house arrest on June 14, 2000 after 3 months. After this point he had several meetings with General Amjad and suggestions made by Mr Puri resulted in savings of over a billion rupees in Oil imports.

20. General Syed Amjad made many promises/ commitments in the name of justice that money extracted from Irfan Puri would be returned to him. General Amjad appreciated and understood that grave injustice had been done, both in private and in presence of various individuals.

21. Mr Puri, filed a number of court cases against NAB/FIA. As a result, bogus Income tax/Wealth Tax demands were issued by the tax department on the behest of NAB officials who visited the department forcing tax officers to issue demands.

22. Irfan, then also had meetings with General Khalid Maqbool, the new Chairman of NAB, to seek justice but regrettably no action was taken.


23. However, on the 17th of May 2003, General Munir Hafiz (as NAB Chairman) visited Irfan's house in Karachi to meet with his family. The General said "all you have seen of NAB is the hard side; I want to show the family the softer side of NAB". During the earlier meetings that Irfan had with General Hafiz, Irfan was told a number of times by General Hafiz that he would arrange for a face to face meeting with General Amjad. However, when Irfan asked General Hafiz, as to when the meeting would happen, General Hafiz said "The meeting can't take place, I would not want to embarrass the General (General Amjad)".

General Hafeez, on his visit was kind, straight forward, and honest, however, he asked Irfan to withdraw legal proceedings against NAB and that NAB would make sure Irfan benefits in other areas.

23. He also sought an appointment with Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf, without success.

24. An order was passed against Irfan Puri on application of Naeem Akhtar Tanoli learned special prosecutor of NAB, freezing properties owned/possessed by Irfan Puri, on 3rd November 2006. This was contested by Irfan Puri by his solicitor Dr Ferrugh Naseem Advocate who argued this case and earned honourable vacation of properties through an order passed by the same court on 10th July 2007, recalling the order earlier passed by Accountability Court Sindh, Karachi.

Irfan Iqbal Puri

An Update


False detention, torture and extortion by The Government of Pakistan


Mr Irfan Iqbal Puri was falsely picked up by the Pakistani intelligence services in 1999 for no reason other than his business success. He was wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by the Government of Pakistan.

Government officials driven by greed and resentment subjected Mr Puri to a total of six months illegal detention including two months of 24 hours a day solitary confinement. This included a 14 day period of solitary confinement at The Attock Fort, in a 4ft x 7ft dark death cell. During his detention at The Attock Fort, Mr Puri was not shown day light for the 14 days. Moreover, he was physically, mentally and verbally abused, the effects of which still scar him today.

Mr Puri was finally released after individuals representing Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) extracted Rs. 300 million from him under duress. Since his detention in 1999 neither the Government nor the military have set out the nature of their allegations against him. In July 2007 the NAB finally issued a court order accepting that after a span of nearly a decade they had been unable to find an allegation against Mr Puri or file any reference against him. The Rs. 300 million remains outstanding and The Government of Pakistan have yet to be held accountable for its actions.

Mr Puri was victimized for pure pleasure and greed.

The following is a harrowing accountant of Mr Puri’s appalling treatment by the Government of Pakistan.

1. Mr Puri is an established and successful businessman. His commercial interests include membership of the Karachi Stock Exchange, UK financial services, infrastructure development, the export of value added consumer products from Pakistan and the importation, export, storage and trading of commodities. Prior to his arrest on December 15, 1999, Mr Puri carried on his business in Pakistan with hard work, integrity and acumen. At an age of 37 he had earned a valuable reputation for honesty and fair play in all his dealings, national as well as international. The Government of Pakistan sought to damage and destroy Mr Puri’s good name and reputation.

2. NAB without making any good faith investigation or inquiry, which was obligatory on them, arrested Mr Puri, on December 15, 1999 from his office at Karachi. On the Jan 16, 2000, the victim was forced to sign some pre-dated documents, at Malir.

3. The arrest was not based on reasonable grounds. Mr Puri was never informed of the grounds for his arrest. He was detained at Malir Cantonment for about seven weeks until February 12, 2000. He was then was shifted and kept at National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Police Station at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi. On February 27, 2000, he was transferred to The Attock Fort where he was confined until March 11, 2000 at which point he was moved back to Karachi.

4. At Malir Cantonment, he was interrogated several times by the Joint Investigation Team, which included F.I.A and army personnel. Members of the Joint Investigation team searched and collected extensive records of Mr Puri’s personal and commercial affairs in a futile endeavour to find evidence of corrupt practices. The thrust of the inquiries related to foreign currency accounts and evasion of income tax. Mr Puri maintained and explained that in view of the Tax Amnesty Scheme announced by the Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharaf, on December 15, 1999 and in view of the provisions contained in the protection of Economic Reform Act 1992, there was no warrant or justification for the Joint Investigation Team to investigate his foreign currency accounts and income tax matters. Mr Puri was detained due to a malicious complaint by Mr. Mohammad Taufiq El Khattani a man motivated by enmity, greed and a desire to extract money from his ex-employer, Saudi Pak LPG. Mr. Khattani was pressurizing Mr Puri to use his business influence on Saudi Pak LPG to which he did not agree.

5. During his confinement at Malir Cantonment, Mr Puri was kept in solitary confinement with effect from January 15, 2000 until he was transferred to the NAB police station situated at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi.

6. Due to the extreme agony and distress caused by Mr Puri’s detention, the mental and physical health of his wife, Mrs Naveen Puri was gravely affected and tragically she suffered a miscarriage.

7. On numerous occasions Mrs Naveen Puri, through her lawyers, requested NAB to inform her of the grounds for her husband’s arrest and to allow clarification of any alleged corruption. However, NAB failed to provide any such information and failed to provide any justification for the detention of Mr Puri. In fact, NAB had no valid reason for the arrest and detention of Mr Puri.

8. On February 12, 2000 Mr Puri was shifted to the NAB Police Station at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi where he was kept in solitary confinement without any facilities. He was not allowed to meet anyone and was neither provided with proper food or medical facilities despite numerous requests. These requests were of the utmost importance as Mr Puri has suffered with a heart problem since his childhood. Here too he was interrogated and threatened that his family members would also be arrested if he would not agree with NAB.

9. On February 27, 2000, Mr Puri was flown to Islamabad and taken to The Attock Fort. There he was confined in a solitary cell, measuring about 4 feet x 7 feet with 18 feet high walls. The cell contained a yellow zero watt bulb suspended from an extremely high ceiling and a flat sheet steel door. The poor light was such that Mr Puri could not even read the Quran. In fact, Mr Puri did not see daylight for 14 days. He went through a series of day and night interrogations. As a form of torture he was forced to keep his hands above his head for hours on end. He was beaten, hooded in sack cloth and thrown from one to prison guard to another. He was subjected to the worst verbal, physical, mental torture. He was threatened with the loss of his own life and the lives of his family. Sleep deprivation methods were used upon him. He would be taken out of the cell in the middle of the night, his head covered with a black sack/hood and a band tied over the hood and around his eyes. Army guards would lift him up suspended in the air by his arms during interrogation. He would then be dragged to another room where he would be interrogated for hours on end. Time and time again he would be asked what his family members were willing to pay to save his life. They would threaten him that if he would not pay up his family members would also be arrested and brought to The Attock Fort. Indeed, his family received phone calls in the middle of the night from FIA/NAB officials making threats and demanding that family members visit the NAB office/FIA centre. Mr Puri saw sunlight for the first time in 14 days when he was taken out of his cell at the end of his detention in Attock. In a cruel and callous act, Mr Puri was not allowed to cover his eyes from the bright sunlight he had not seen for 2 weeks.

10. After spending 14 days in this death cell, Irfan was allowed to meet his father and wife in the presence of the military. His father told him that the NAB officials had been making threatening phone calls to Irfan's father asking him to come over to the NAB offices. That was the final breaking point for Mr Puri, he asked his dad to wait for two days and that he would try is best to settle one way or the other with NAB. This was an extremely painful time for Mr Puri but the use of threats to the safety of his family pushed him to the edge.

11. Mr Puri’s ordeal at the hands of NAB including unlawful arrest, extreme physical and mental torture resulted in him suffering a complete nervous breakdown and severe deterioration in his heart condition. He lost more than 12 kg in weight.

12. He finally broke down under threat, intimidation and coercion and it was in such a condition that he agreed to make payment of sum of Rs. Three Hundred Million to the NAB.

13. After his verbal agreement at The Attock Fort to arrange for payment of Rs. 300,000,000/-, he was brought to Karachi on PIA flight from Islamabad in handcuffs on March 11, 2000.

14. At the NAB Police Station in Karachi he was threatened, pressurised and coerced to agree in writing to the payment of Rs. 300 million, of which Rs. 100 million had to be paid in advance before his release. He was told, "there is no law just pay up".

15. The FIA and other staff of NAB started visiting the offices and family home each day harassing the staff members and hindering their work making it impossible to run a business. The offices were surrounded by FIA, NAB, Rangers and military personnel demanding the remaining payment and threatening dire consequences otherwise. The abuse stretched to a point where some senior office executives were made to strip naked. This represents torture and harassment of an appalling nature.

16. Mr Puri was also coerced into handing over property documents as "security" for payment of the remaining amount of Rs. 200,000,000/- (Rupees two hundred million). In fact he handed over original property documents to NAB of five (5) properties with an aggregate value of Rs. 400,000,000/- (Rupees Four Hundred Million).

17. Even after all this, NAB did not release him, but kept him under house arrest / unlawful detention until June 14, 2000.

18. Whilst Irfan, was under house arrest two dozen Rangers were stationed around the clock in and around the house.

19. Mr Puri, was ultimately released from house arrest on June 14, 2000 after 3 months. After this point he had several meetings with General Amjad and suggestions made by Mr Puri resulted in savings of over a billion rupees in Oil imports.

20. General Syed Amjad made many promises/ commitments in the name of justice that money extracted from Irfan Puri would be returned to him. General Amjad appreciated and understood that grave injustice had been done, both in private and in presence of various individuals.

21. Mr Puri, filed a number of court cases against NAB/FIA. As a result, bogus Income tax/Wealth Tax demands were issued by the tax department on the behest of NAB officials who visited the department forcing tax officers to issue demands.

22. Irfan, then also had meetings with General Khalid Maqbool, the new Chairman of NAB, to seek justice but regrettably no action was taken.


23. However, on the 17th of May 2003, General Munir Hafiz (as NAB Chairman) visited Irfan's house in Karachi to meet with his family. The General said "all you have seen of NAB is the hard side; I want to show the family the softer side of NAB". During the earlier meetings that Irfan had with General Hafiz, Irfan was told a number of times by General Hafiz that he would arrange for a face to face meeting with General Amjad. However, when Irfan asked General Hafiz, as to when the meeting would happen, General Hafiz said "The meeting can't take place, I would not want to embarrass the General (General Amjad)".

General Hafeez, on his visit was kind, straight forward, and honest, however, he asked Irfan to withdraw legal proceedings against NAB and that NAB would make sure Irfan benefits in other areas.

23. He also sought an appointment with Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf, without success.

24. An order was passed against Irfan Puri on application of Naeem Akhtar Tanoli learned special prosecutor of NAB, freezing properties owned/possessed by Irfan Puri, on 3rd November 2006. This was contested by Irfan Puri by his solicitor Dr Ferrugh Naseem Advocate who argued this case and earned honourable vacation of properties through an order passed by the same court on 10th July 2007, recalling the order earlier passed by Accountability Court Sindh, Karachi.

"‘I am sorry... I suffer from middle-class morality,’ I answered, my head still hanging on rusted hinges, ‘you know... honour, integrity, honesty, dignity, truth."

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Ev'rywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy
'Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy
Well then what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's just no place for a street fighting man
No!

Hey! Think the time is right for a palace revolution
'Cause where I live the game to play is compromise solution
Well then what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's no place for a street fighting man
No!
Get down

Hey! Said my name is called disturbance
I'll shout and scream, I'll kill the king, I'll rail at all his servants
Well, what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's no place for a street fighting man
No!
Get down

--Mick Jagger/Keith Richards
Beggar's Banquet