PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Thursday arrested four people, including senior official of Public Works Department, on the charge of Rs190 million embezzlement in Upper Dir development funds.

The NAB will produce the suspects, including PWD executive engineer Mohammad Asif, assistant executive engineer Mohammad Iftikharullah Qureshi, SDO Abdul Wahab and contractor Riaz Shoaib, before an accountability court today (Friday) to secure their physical custody.

According to the NAB, the four in connivance with each other had embezzled around Rs190 million of public funds in Upper Dir development projects, including Dir Town Water Supply Scheme.

The Pak-PWD Batkhela division had allocated Rs190 million for Dir Town Water Supply Scheme in 2012-13 and released all funds for the scheme.

However, physical inspections of the sites revealed ghost, substandard and incomplete schemes for which complete payments was made to contractors.

The NAB alleged that XEN Mohammad Asif along with officials of Pak-PWD Batkhela office had committed grave financial irregularities and embezzled funds released for the developmental work in question with the connivance of contractors.

REMANDED: A local Ehtesab court on Thursday remanded provincial secretary for industries department Sajid Khan Jadoon in the custody of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission for 13 days in a case of misuse of authority and corruption.

Judge Subhan Sher ordered the production of the suspect, who is also the president of Provincial Civil Services Officers Association on Sept 10.

The suspect, who is also a former secretary of excise and taxation department, was arrested on Wednesday on the charges of misappropriation of government money and committing illegalities in purchase of weapons, wireless sets, bullet proof jackets and vehicle conversion and other procurements, which had caused loss of millions of rupees to the exchequer.

Additional deputy prosecutor general Barrister Qazi Babar Irshad told the commission that the suspect was also involved in illegal retention of vehicles confiscated by the excise and taxation department against the prescribed rules and allotments of those vehicles to the people of his choice thus misusing his authority.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play