Former Pak minister handed 16 years for Haj corruption

ISLAMABAD: A court jailed a former religious affairs minister for 16 years on Friday for taking kickbacks in arranging Haj, media reported. Hamid Saeed Kazmi was a minister in the government of the Pakistan People’s Party that was in power from 2008-2013. He was charged with hiring a substandard building to house Pakistani pilgrims to Makkah in 2009, charging exorbitant rents from the travelers and receiving kickbacks. A court also convicted two other former officials and jailed them for 16 and 40 years, respectively.