04 March 2005	Friday	22 Muharram 1426

GUJRANWALA, March 3: The Anti-Corruption Establishment, Punjab, claims to have arrested 1,795 employees of various government and semi-government departments during the last one-and-a-half-year.

The establishment also held 412 officials who had escaped court proceedings but continued to work on their seats, and recovered Rs700 million from them. This was stated by ACE Punjab Director-General Brig Muhammad Aslam (retired) at the inauguration ceremony of the regional directorate here on Thursday.

He said regional directorates had been set up in each district where a deputy-director, two assistant-directors and other staff had been deployed. He said almost all the anti-corruption offices had been transferred to official buildings from private premises in the province.

Vehicles for the use of staff had been purchased at a cost of Rs70 million. Dozens of officials of the ACE had been dismissed from service on graft charges, he said.