ISLAMABAD, November 07 (DNA): The government on Monday constituted an inquiry committee tasked to probe Newsgate scandal.

According to our correspondent, Justice (retd) Amir Raza has been named as head of the committee, while one member each from Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are part of the committee.

Director of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Usman Anwar has also been included in the committee.

Last month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif removed Information and Broadcasting Minister Pervaiz Rashid from his cabinet over October 6 security meeting’s leak to media.

The article, published in the English daily, Dawn, caused uproar and the journalist who wrote it was briefly hit with a travel ban.

“The planted story related to NSC and NAP meetings published in Dawn on October 6 was a breach of national security. Evidence available so far points to a lapse on part of Information Minister, who has been directed to step down from office to enable holding of an independent and detailed inquiry,” a statement by PM office said.

Later, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said that there is a consensus between the civilian and military leadership that whoever leaked the ‘false story’ should be exposed.

Briefing the media about Pervaiz Rashid’s suspension as information minister, Nisar said that on the basis of initial probe he can say that there is no record as to who leaked the story.

Nisar said Pervez Rashid did not make any attempt to stop news story from being published.

“Pervez Rashid should have told the journalist concerned that the news is incorrect and this should not be published in the national interest… and upon resistance he could have asked, Zafar Abbas (the editor of the newspaper), not to run the story,” he said.=DNA

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