Director general (DG) of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of Pakistan has conceded that the agency collected 'details' of the members of the joint investigation team (JIT) investigating the Panamagate case, but denied hacking any individual's social media accounts or harassing their family.
In his reply to the charge, DG IB Aftab Sultan said there was nothing extraordinary about the bureau's activities, claiming that the collection of details on 'important' individuals was a routine matter.
The IB had previously been accused of spying on Bilal Rasool, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan's (SECP) representative in the JIT.
"The Facebook account of Mr. Bilal Rasool, which is also used by his wife/family, was ostensibly hacked to retireve the contents attached [with the application]... without the consent of Mr. Bilal Rasool or his family," an application by the JIT submitted to the SC earlier had read.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) was set up in pursuance of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997 and became operational on January 1, 1999. It has investigative and enforcement powers. Rasool joined the Corporate Law Authority, a forerunner of the SECP, in 1993, where he worked as a registrar of the appellate bench and secretary to the commission.