GUJRANWALA: A mega corruption case worth Rs300 million of fake allotment of 45 shops in the grain market in Hafizabad was unearthed as the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) registered a case against 50 people, including the market committee administrator and other officials.

The ACE also arrested the market secretary on Tuesday after a court rejected his interim bail.

The Punjab government had abolished the old grain market and established a new one for which the agriculture department and market committee had chalked out a policy under which 49 shops were to be allotted to the commission agents who had been working in the old market till 2002.

But market committee officials and some commission agents allegedly prepared bogus licences and other documents and allotted 45 shops and plots to the commission agents who were not entitled to receive them. When the matter was brought to the notice of ACE Punjab Director General retired Brig Muzaffar Ali Ranjha, he ordered Gujranwala Regional Director Farid Ahmad to conduct an inquiry.

50 booked for fake allotment of 45 shops

An inquiry team comprising the ACE Hafizabad deputy director (technical) and circle officer conducted investigation against the grain market officials and commission agents after seizing all relevant records, and found the officials guilty of embezzlement worth Rs300 million.

When the ACE registered a case against these officials, the main suspect, market committee Secretary Shahbaz Cheema, got an interim bail approved from court, which was later dismissed. ACE Deputy Director (Investigation) Arshad Badar and Circle Officer Nasir Chattha arrested Cheema from the court premises while he was attempting to flee. Teams were also conducting raids to arrest the remaining suspects. Some influential people were also said to be nominated in the first information report while ACE has sent a report to the Punjab government.

CLEANLINESS: Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan and Municipal Corporation Mayor Sheikh Sarwat Ikram expressed concern over poor cleanliness of the city and blamed the solid waste management company former managing director for it despite having a budget of Rs3.5 billion for the purpose.

Talking to locals during their visit to the city on Tuesday, they said if garbage lifting vehicles were purchased for Rs500 million, the heaps of trash on roads and streets could be removed.

The mayor, who is also chairman of the solid waste management company, demanded the ACE take notice of the situation.

UNFIT MEAT: Police seized 32 maund of substandard meat and arrested three suspects who were taking it to Mandi Bahauddin.

Police said Shoaib Hassan, Qamar Abbas and Shabbir Hussain were transporting the meat out of city. When a patrolling team of police signalled them to stop, they sped up. But police chased and arrested them besides seizing the meat. A case was registered against them.

FILTRATION PLANTS: At least 98 water filtration plants, which were installed a few months ago in various union councils of a remote area, were shut down on Tuesday due to contaminated water.

The remaining plants were being checked under the directives of the apex court after the chief justice of Pakistan took suo motu notice of lack of clean drinking water in Punjab and Sindh.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2018