ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of ‘ghost’ employees are drawing salary from the Levies Force in Kohlu district of Balochistan, an official document reveals.

According to a report sent to the Balochistan home secretary, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the total strength of Levies Force in Kohlu is around 1,500 — the number is probably higher than any other district —but the on-ground presence was less than any other district.

The report estimates that over one-third of these employees are fake.

It points out that more than 1,400 weapons and hundreds of thousands of rounds have been issued in the names of these Levies employees, but keeping in view the large number of ghost employees, it can be a security threat as well.

“There is no guarantee whatsoever that these official weapons will not be misused or even used by insurgents,” the report notes.

It recommends a high-level inquiry to investigate the matter and suggests scrutiny of the record and inspection of weapons by experts of Directorate General of Levies Force.

“Ghost employees in Levies Force in Kohlu is a serious issue and extraordinary measures are needed to overcome the problem,” the report says.

Usually, ghost employees give a part of their salary to the mafia and enjoy their absence from duty with impunity.

The report says that all people involved in the scam are highly influential and a clean chit was given to those responsible for this situation in most of the inquiries conducted in the past.

It further says that assistant commissioners and tehsildars have no say in Levies Force affairs in Kohlu.

“The position of ACs and tehsildars has been made ineffective in official matters of Levies Force.”

Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani, when contacted, confirmed the receipt of report and said that the Sibi Division commissioner had been asked to investigate the matter of ghost employees.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2016