GUJRAT, Sept 16: The provincial excise and taxation department is reportedly causing an inordinate delay in completing the corruption inquiries against an assistant excise and taxation officer and two inspectors.

Sources told Dawn on Monday on the condition of anonymity that a Kharian AETO, a motor branch inspector and a Lalamusa inspector were allegedly involved in corruption.

They said that the Mandi Bahauddin anti-corruption establishment had lodged two separate corruption cases against the Kharian AETO during his tenure as Mandi AETO last year. The matter was related to the Mandi motor branch about the registration of some excavators while the complainants belonged to Malakwal.

The AETO, they said, was also declared a court deserter in the cases lodged by the ACE. Later, he was posted as Kharian AETO last year. However, sources said that he remained absent from his Kharian office from October till February last without obtaining any official leave. The provincial high-ups had suspended him from service on April 28 on the charges of corruption and continuous absence from his Kharian office.

They said that he had been advised to report to the Lahore office immediately. However, when he did not report the office till May 26, the Lahore Excise director-general ordered that he would be sacked if he failed to join the provincial office forthwith.

On June 10, he was reinstated on the same post by the high-ups for the reasons best known to them. When contacted by phone, he said that he had recently been absolved of the corruption cases after a patch-up with the complainants. He denied that he remained absent from his office and said that he was on leave instead.

About the corruption of two inspectors, sources said that Gujrat AETO Muhammad Yousaf Virk had detected the corruption in the motor branch. Both the officials were removed from the motor branch while the Lalamusa inspector later got himself posted at Sarai Alamgir and the motor branch inspector also succeeded in re-capturing his former post of motor inspector.

They said the AETO had also detected that the Lalamusa inspector committed gross irregularities in Sarai Alamgir. He had not brought several big commercial units under the property tax network allegedly after taking huge bribes.

Similarly, he allegedly got payments as property tax from tax payers but did not deposit the amount in the treasury. He was later posted at Lalamusa excise office while another inspector was posted in his place at Sarai Alamgir.

Sources said that after the transfer, he had written a letter to the newly-posted inspector with a request to conceal the malpractice he had committed during his posting at Sarai Alamgir. They said that the inspector had kept the letter in his record.

When contacted, he denied that he had committed any irregularity or corruption during his posting at the motor branch and at Sarai Alamgir. Similarly, the motor branch inspector also denied the corruption charges against him.

ROBBERY: Dacoits looted cash and valuables from two houses in different strikes in and around the city during the last 36 hours. Six bandits forced their entry into the house of Imran and held up the inmates at gunpoint at Rasheedpura in Lalamusa.