MULTAN: A three-member National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team from Islamabad confiscated the record of a case involving the former provincial irrigation secretary, Dawn has learnt.

Sources said the Multan NAB office was working on a case on a complaint by Muhammad Ibrahim, of Yazman, about the misuse of power by irrigation officials. The complainant was being denied water share despite a Lahore High Court (LHC) order.

The complainant alleged then superintendent engineer Masood Anwar Chughtai allotted water after minting Rs5.1 million in September 2015 but then executive engineer (EXEN) Islam Bhatti also demanded a Rs5 million bribe to implement the order.

Later, Mr Chughtai withdrew the water allotment order on May 11, 2016. Mr Ibrahim filed a petition with the LHC and the court on May 23 directed the SE to treat the petition as representation. The SE decided the case in his favour on Aug 24.

He stated that EXEN Islam Mustafa refused to implement the decision, while then irrigation secretary Saif Anjum stayed the water share order in the first week of September. These circumstances pushed Mr Ibrahim to seek NAB intervention.

On Dec 23, the NAB regional board converted the inquiry into investigation, involving Mr Anjum, Mr Chughtai, Mr Bhatti and Mr Mustfa, for corrupt practices through misuse of authority, obtaining pecuniary advantages by illegal means and abetting in the commission of offences.

Meanwhile, NAB Deputy Director (coordination) Muhammad Asad Jan wrote on Dec 26 to the Multan NAB office to withhold the inquiry into the case with an immediate effect.

The inquiry was withheld the same day but NAB Mutlan Director General retired Brig Farooq Nasir Awan directed Deputy Assistant Director Tahir Rasool to hold investigation into the case and submit the final report together with the evidence and other material collected for the appraisal of the competent authority.

On Thursday, Mr Jan arrived in Multan and confiscated the record.

A spokesperson for the Multan NAB called the transfer of the record from one region to other or headquarter a routine matter.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2017