May 15, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1424

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GUJRAT, May 14: The Anti-Corruption Establishment in Rawalpindi has registered a case against Kharian Tehsil Nazim Nadeem Asghar Kaira of the PPP on charges of failing to cooperate with an inquiry team of ACE and abusing power, according to reliable sources.

Naib Nazim Mian Idrees of Jani Chak Union Council, Kharian tehsil, had filed a written application with the ACE against Mr Asghar, accusing the Nazim of irregularities, corruption, malpractice and abuse of power.

Mian Idrees belongs to the PML-Q and is a close relative of former MPA Mian Tariq of Dinga. His application revealed that despite the fact that the total annual budget of the Kharian Tehsil Municipal Administration was Rs24 million, the Nazim carried out developmental and uplift schemes worth Rs50 million in the tehsil before the Oct 10 elections to muster support for his cousins, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, who were elected as MNA and MPA, respectively.

The sources quoted Mian Idrees as saying in his application that the Nazim had accepted bribes and allowed the contractors to use substandard material in the developmental work.

They said the ACE had constituted a team to probe the charges. The inquiry team visited the Kharian TMA office a month ago, but the staff informed them that the Nazim was not present there and refused to show them the official record without permission of the Nazim. A few days later, the ACE team again visited the Kharian office, but Nazim Kaira refused to show them the official record, sources said, adding that the ACE inquiry team visited the Kharian office four times but always got the same response.

The inquiry team reported the matter to high-ups and sought permission to lodge an FIR against the Nazim. Meanwhile, a deputy-director of the ACE Rawalpindi was transferred for allegedly favouring the Nazim, the sources said.

They claimed that the ACE had sent the FIR and other material against the Nazim to the Punjab chief minister, seeking orders for his arrest and other necessary action.

Meanwhile, sources in the PPP said that Tehsil Nazim Kaira had gone into hiding for fear of arrest. A close relative of the Nazim confirmed that the ACE had registered a case against Mr Asghar on charges of abuse of power. According to him, the Nazim had gone to the Lahore High Court for interim bail.