The committee had a briefing from PPL, in which a representative said the move of arresting three of its officials was merely tact to defuse mounting resentment among the Baloch tribes against military.
"The PPL officials have no link with lady doctor gang-rape case. They were actually arrested to provide cover to the army officers and beat the heat against them," a source present in the meeting quoted PPL representative as saying.
On January 29, police arrested three PPL officials including a plant manager working at Sui oil field for their alleged involvement in the lady doctor gang-rape case.
Earlier last month, a lady doctor Shazia Khalid was allegedly gang-raped by an army captain along with his other accomplices at a hospital in Sui.
The incident, when unearthed later, angered tribesmen, who fired hundreds of rockets and mortars resulting in the destruction of Sui gas field and prompting authorities for deploying extra force to secure the government's installations in the area. The committee, however, accused PPL officials of making an attempt to conceal facts about the incident and delaying in providing information about rape to the authorities.
The meeting observed the people actually involved in the incident could have been brought to the book, had the PPL management informed the government about the rape timely.
Meanwhile, a statement issued here said, the Senate panel formed a three-member sub committee to look into the role played by the PPL management during the ongoing crisis in Sui oil field.
The sub-committee would meet on Wednesday (today) to furnish its report after having a round of talks with PPL top management, the statement said.
The findings of the committee would be laid before the Senate, which was scheduled to meet on Wednesday and wherein a heated debate on recent Sui crisis was expected.
Ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Senator Syed Dilawar Abbas would chair the committee. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rukhsana Zuberi and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Dr Ismail Buledi would be its members, the statement added.
Already on January 26, the opposition members of the panel staged a walkout from the committee meeting, protesting again what they termed the government providing 'cover' to the military official involved in the alleged gang rape of a lady doctor in Sui oil field.
The authorities in Islamabad have been putting the blame of 'creating law and order situation' on the tribal leaders, while the Bloch nationalists holding the government responsible for the crisis.