ISLAMABAD: Two days after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took the step of conducting an inquiry into leaked question papers of the National Testing Service (NTS), as well as alleged irregularities in the organisation, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) raided the NTS office and confiscated the organisation`s records.

NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbalordered aninquiryinto NTS affairs on Friday. The Bureau had received several complaints against the testing service, which have been clubbed together in an investigation.

The FBR raided the office of NTS Islamabad a private entity that has been operating its business under the title of a national organisation and seized computers and other records.

Sources told Dawn that the FBR had raided the NTS office to confiscate records pertaining to under-declaration of taxes, and added that the NTS wasbeing investigated for the last three months. There were also reports that NAB and FBR had conducted a joint raid and that NAB had arrested some of ficials of theNTS.

However, Dr Sherzada Khan, the chief executive officer of NTS, issued a press release stating that NAB had not conducted a raid or arrested anyone.

He said the FBR`s Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (Inland Revenue) had only seized the company`s tax records. However, he claimed that, some other records and a few personal computers, not related to tax matters, had been `erroneously` seized. He said the NTS would ensure payment of all due tax claims as per requirements of the law.

The NTS was established by the Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), a public entity, which had employed most of its staff members as directors of the new testing service.

There was no mention of the creation of the NTS in the CIT T`s board of governors until 2009.