PESHAWAR: Awami National Party held a protest rally against National Accountability Bureau here on Monday for not taking up cases of alleged corruption during the last six years.

According to a press release, ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan led the protest rally held in Hayatabad outside the NAB office. He said that high profile cases of corruption were taken up and inquiries were held but NAB had not moved forward and done anything in those cases.

“It looks like there is a hidden hand behind it,” said Mr Khan. He said that the prime minister, who chanted the slogan of accountability, was surrounded by the people facing NAB charges. He added that the case of misuse of helicopter by the prime minister was also not investigated so far.

The ANP leader said that billion tree project also needed to be probed as saplings from Punjab were bought quiet expensive and the parliamentary committee also disclosed that the plants mentioned in the papers were different from the ones on the ground. He said that eruption of fire at 92 places could be an attempt to eliminate the evidence.

Mr Khan also mentioned Bus Rapid Transit project and said that it should be investigated by NAB. He said that it was not completed within six months as claimed by the government and the delay escalated its expenditures.

The ANP leader said high profile cases should be investigated by NAB to protect the rights and lives of the people of the province.

ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain also spoke about the corruption scandals. He said that instead of taking up such cases of corruption, NAB was acting as bodyguard of the government. He said that NAB should not become a tool in the hands of the government rather it should work for the interests of the country.

He said that ANP believed in impartial accountability that should be for everyone whether he was a prime minister or his family.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019