Motorway case transferred to NAB

HYDERABAD: A special anti-corruption court on Tuesday transferred the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway land corruption case from the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Karachi.

On the behalf of NAB, an application was filed on December 26 in the special anti-corruption court of Judge Zahoor Ahmed Hakdro in Hyderabad.

The hearing for extradition of an accused in the Hyderabad Sukkur M6 Motorway corruption case was held on January 4, in which the NAB Prosecutor Jameel Khan took the position that it was a corruption case worth billions and the Sindh ACE had no jurisdiction.

On the other hand, ACE lawyer Mazhar Siyal said the department has recovered more than Rs500 million and investigation was also going well. After hearing the arguments from both sides, the decision was reserved.

In November 2022, the anti-corruption police had registered a case against former deputy commissioner Matiari Adnan Rasheed, assistant commissioner Saeedabad and land acquisition officer Mansoor Abbasi along with bank Manager Tabish Shah and others for not fulfilling the rules and regulations in the purchase of land in the Matiari District (M6) project. However, on the request of NAB, the anti-corruption court handed over the case to NAB Karachi.

For the M6 motorway project, the National Highway Authority had released more than Rs4 billion to former deputy commissioner Matiari for the purchase of land. Allegedly, Rs2 billion in cash was withdrawn under the supervision of DC Matiari, the receiver. But the land was not purchased. The Sindh government formed a three-member committee to investigate the corruption and the anti-corruption department started investigation.

It should be noted that former DC Matiari Adnan Rasheed, Land Acquisition Officer Matiari Mansoor Abbasi, Sindh Bank Matiari Manager Tabish Shah are currently in Nara Jail, Hyderabad.