LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday extended physical remand of Engineer Qamarul Islam and Waseem Ajmal, accused in Saaf Pani Company corruption case till Aug 13.

Earlier, National Accountability Bureau officials produced both the accused before accountability court judge Syed Najamul Hassan on expiry of their remand.

The National Accountability Bureau prosecutor submitted that investigations were in progress and further remand was required for the purpose.

The defence counsel opposed the request saying that the accused were arrested on baseless allegations and no evidence was available against them.

However, the court after hearing arguments of the two sides extended the physical remand till Augt 13 and directed officials to produce the accused on expiry of the term.

Qamarul Islam served as the chief executive officer of the Saaf Pani Company.

He is accused of having awarded contracts for water treatment plants at a higher price.

His predecessor Ajmal is also an accused in the case.

The Saaf Pani Company is one among 56 public limited companies formed by the Punjab government soon after assuming power in Punjab in 2013.

All these companies are now being probed by NAB.

Published in Dawn, August 07th, 2018