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| October 12, 2005 | Wednesday | Ramzan 7, 1426 |
CMIT digs deep into excise scam
FAISALABAD, Oct 11: The Chief Minister’s Inspection Team on Tuesday inched a step ahead in the excise department’s motor registration scandal and recorded statements of about a dozen employees of the department and took into custody some relevant files.
The CMIT chairman, Brig Arsalan Ali Khan (retired), assisted by Director Headquarters Excise Department Amir Khattak, visited the excise and taxation department local offices and questioned the staff members about the activities of clerk Asim Yousaf, his accomplices, the scam mastermind, role of the police and the working of the motor registration branch.
He directed the officials concerned to provide a complete record of the vehicles registered during the last couple of years and documents pertaining to the criminal cases registered against them by the police for corruption, abuse of power and involvement in issuing fake registration books of lifted and hijacked vehicles.
The inquiry team recorded statements of Excise and Taxation Officer Farman Masood and Mahmood Ahmad Butt, inspectors Babar Javed, Bashir Ahmad and Ghulam Rasool, besides other employees.
Motor Registration Branch in-charge Aslam Sukhera and inspector Abdul Rehman Chattha were also called by the inquiry committee and questioned on various aspects of the scam. Some of the officials were called from Toba Tek Singh district, who had performed their duties in Faisalabad during the scam.
The probe had been ordered by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi in consonance with the recommendations made by one-man tribunal of District and Sessions Judge Abdul Waheed Khan and the report of the police committee.
The police inquiry committee recorded in its findings that the ordeal started in Lahore with the registration of a case against 26 people, including Asim Yousaf. Besides him, other employees of the Multan and Faisalabad excise and taxation offices were nominated in the FIR. Inspector (now DSP) Ahmad Saleem of the Anti-Vehicle Lifting Staff Lahore registered the FIR No 264/2004 under section 420, 268, 471, and 411 of PPC with the Lytton Road police station after taking into possession a Toyota Hiace wagon from one Abdul Waheed.
According to the Forensic Science Laboratory report, the chassis number of the vehicle was found to be tampered with. Thereafter, the Faisalabad police started conducting raids at the Faisalabad excise office. The record showed that the first case was registered by the Faisalabad police vide FIR No 253 on June 4, 2004, under section 420, 268, 471, 400, 401, 109 of PPC with the Civil Lines police station.
According to DSP Mushtaq Ahmad’s statement, a team from Lahore police had come to inquire about the scandal in the excise and taxation Office, but let the corrupt off the hook. SP (Investigation) Abdullah Khalid directed his DSP to arrange a person from public to be the complainant in the matter.
Muhammad Nadeem, the complainant of the case, had no specific complaint against any employee of the excise office and the complaint for registration of FIR was drafted at the residence of the SP.
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