October 29, 2008	Wednesday	Shawwal 29, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 28: An accountability court on Tuesday acquitted a deputy manager of the State Life Insurance Corporation, Sukkur, in a NAB reference due to a lack of evidence.

The reference (80/2007) filed by the National Accountability Bureau, Sindh, alleged that Abdul Ghaffar Shaikh, a deputy manager at the insurance firm, had singed a cheque (dated Nov 3, 2004) prepared by co-accused Ayaz Shaikh, an assistant superintendent account of the same firm. The original amount of the cheque was Rs10,150. However, the cheque was tampered with by adding a numeric ‘6’ to fraudulently make the amount as Rs6,10,150. The tampered cheque was deposited with the bank and the accused drew the amount, according to the NAB reference.

Judge Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the Accountability Court-I pronounced the verdict after recording arguments from both sides on an acquittal plea moved by applicant’s counsel.