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| November 14, 2005 | Monday | Shawwal 11, 1426 |
Police seal Edhi centre, seize ambulances: Relief goods’ scam
GUJRANWALA, Nov 13: The local Edhi centre which was closed down by police last month, after a quake relief goods scam was unearthed there, has now been sealed and its ambulances and records were forfeited on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Edhi Trust chief Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi has sent a memorandum to the president, prime minister, IGP, DIG and DPO, demanding that the centre, sealed by police illegally, be restored while the staff be allowed to work.
He alleged that some politicians and vested interests were conspiring against the trust to bring a bad name to it.
The police action has been criticized by social circles as well as various traders’ bodies. They said the centre was providing various welfare services to the oppressed people by helping them in locating their lost children and carrying the injured and the dead by its ambulances, besides provision of relief goods to the quake-hit areas.
They said as the four corrupt officials of the centre had already been arrested by police, there was no justification for sealing the facility. They demanded the remaining staff at the centre be allowed to perform their duties in the larger interest of the local population.
A local lawyer, Sheikh Eizad Masood, argued the centre could not be sealed by the police without permission of a magistrate.
AUDIT: The local government department has decided to conduct an audit of various local bodies institutions while special teams comprising senior auditors have been constituted for the purpose, it is learnt here on Sunday.
Source said the process would begin with a detailed audit of district, tehsil and city councils of Wazirabad, Kamoki and Naushera Virkan after sealing the relevant record. Later, other local institutions would be scrutinized, they added.
Any loss of public money through corruption, if detected, would be recovered from the former nazims and naib-nazims of these bodies.
The sources said the government wanted to conduct audit of these institutions before local election, but it somehow got delayed.
They said some former councillors and citizen had already moved the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the former city nazim Babu Javed Ahmad, accusing him of causing a loss of Rs15 million to the exchequer in awarding a contract. NAB officials concerned had recorded his statement in this connection a few days back.
Meanwhile, talking to journalists, Babu Javed claimed he had awarded the contract of property fee transfer in accordance with the law and stated the same in his statement recorded by the NAB.
ADMISSION FORMS: Scores of BA examination candidates expressed concern over unavailability of admission forms at local bank branch and demanded the Punjab University should extend the last date for form submission with normal fee.
At a meeting held here, the participants said the PU had fixed Nov 11 as the last date, but the sole Habib Bank branch was short of the forms. Despite standing for hours in front of the bank, many candidates could not get the forms and police had to be called to avoid any untoward situation.
They alleged that, due to the shortage, an admission form was sold in black market for Rs200 instead of Rs30.
They also demanded the number of bank branches be increased to provide forms to such a large number of candidates.
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