The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated an inquiry into the alleged use of a provincial government helicopter by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.

NAB chairperson Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal had earlier ordered the Director-General (DG) NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to investigate reports that the PTI chief had used the helicopter.

In compliance with the orders, NAB K-P has begun an inquiry into the matter, and an investigation committee has been set up in this regard as well, according to sources.

Earlier this month, NAB chief Javed Iqbal had issued a statement in which he said that Imran Khan had been using the K-P government helicopter for non-government visits. According to Iqbal, Khan had used two helicopters for a combined 73 hours.

“It costs about Rs1-1.2 million per hour to use one of the helicopters that Imran flew in. The other helicopter used by the PTI chief costs 0.5 million per hour,” Iqbal noted.

The figures quoted above seem to indicate that Imran Khan’s flights have cost the national exchequer in excess of Rs100 million. However, in the numbers quoted by the K-P government, only Rs2.1 million are accounted for. NAB chief had asked authorities to probe this discrepancy.