NAB recovers Rs 448.54m from
corrupt officials, land grabbers
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Multan region has recovered Rs 448.54 million, including Rs 27.11 million as volunteer recovery and plea bargain, from March 2015 to April 2016.
The department has also approved Rs 421.44 million as volunteer recovery and plea bargain and recovered Rs 337.35 million from May 2016 to October 2016, it was disclosed by NAB South Punjab DG Brig (retd) Farooq Nasir Awan while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday. He said that the NAB Multan regional office received 3,516 complaints since its establishment on October 27, 2014, from Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions, while 2,260 complaints had been received from March 2015 to April 2016 and 1,344 complaints were received from May 2016 to October 2016. The lowest complaints were received from Dera Ghazi Khan Division, he informed. As many as 3,516 complaints had been decided and processed, he maintained. He said that 270 complaints converted into complaints verification process while 21 complaints were referred to the headquarters, 985 complaints stand NFA, 1,269 transferred to other departments, 114 transferred to A&P/R/NABs, 844 complaints linked to previous cases and 13 complaints were lying for follow up. The complaints verification process from March 2015 to October 2016 had been finalised and 249 complaints, including 54, converted into inquiries, five complaints sent to NAB headquarters, 85 complaints closed, 90 referred to other departments and 33 complaints were under process, he continued. He said that the NAB had completed 80 inquiries from March 2015 to October 2016, and 22 were still under process. To a query, he said that a woman section officer posted at the Higher Education Commission allegedly tempered and wrongly interpreted the Punjab CM orders of establishment of the BZU Lahore campus and her name had been included in the accused list of the NAB reference. He said that BZU former director distance learning Prof Dr Ishaq Fani was allegedly involved in mega financial fraud worth Rs 170 million and soon he would be rounded up as evidences proved him guilty. Brig (retd) Farooq Nasir Awan said that the NAB had conducted investigation into 44 cases since its establishment and 42 cases had been decided and processed while two cases were still under trail. He said that the NAB had recovered Rs 366.23 million from the people involved in mega financial frauds, including Rs 213 million from Wapda Employees Cooperative Housing Society secretary Saeed Ahmed Khan while Rs 153 million had been recovered from Muzaffargarh NBP accused Muntazir Mehdi. He said that 52 references had been filed from March 2015 to October 2016, and 21 had been decided while 31 cases were under trial. Giving details of under trial cases, he said that Rs 990 million would be recovered from Vehari police and five DPOs, including Ali Nasir, Shahid Kamal, Shakir Dawar, Omer Hayat and Ashar Hamid. He said that Punjab IGP Mushtaq Sukhera had referred the Vehari police case to the NAB. The DPOs had drawn the amount from national exchequer allegedly through fake bills, he revealed. He told that Rs 1.5 million would be recovered from Bahawalpur Pak PWD XEN Mushtaq Hussain Saqi, SDO, sub-engineers and government contractors and others while Rs 30 million would be recovered from Bahawalpur Ahmadpur East AC Rana Amjad Ali and others. Likewise, he added, Rs 20 million would be recovered from Rana Amjad Ali, Allah Bux Langrial, Nasir Mehmood Khokhar, Allah Ditta Chaudhry and others. Similarly, Rs 2,000 million would be recovered from Nazir Ahmad, Patwari Mauza Ladanwali, Bahawalpur, for corruption in the CPEC, he added. He maintained that Rs 3,008 million would be recovered from unlawful beneficiaries of Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan Irrigation Department zones. The officials were allegedly involved in helping illegally transferring 22,000 acres land of Irrigation Department to a private person, he said. He told that Rs 1,000 million would be recovered from Muzaffargarh Revenue Department officials while Rs 11 million would be recovered from Multan Patwari Malik Zahid Afzal. He added that Rs 100 million would be recovered from Bahawalpur Superintendent Engineer Masood Chughtai and others. As many as Rs 120 million would be recovered from MEPCO’s Deputy Manager Corporate Accounts and former secretary to Wapda Employees Cooperative Housing Society Saeed Ahmed Khan, he concluded.
