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THATTA: A fact-finding committee has submitted its report and recommendations regarding payment of several billion rupees to what appeared to be ‘ghost’ employees in the police department.
It suggested that the matter be referred to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) considering embezzlement of a huge amount of money by a few officials.
Thatta SSP Shabbir Sethar on Monday shared some details of the matter and recommendations with reporters at the Thatta Press Club.
The three-member committee was constituted on a directive of the inspector general of police after it emerged that salaries and allowances for as many as 130 non-existing police employees had been drawn every month for about six years.
A thorough investigation was conducted by the committee, which found incriminating evidence against the officials involved and recommended handing over of the matter to NAB for further probe.
Salaries of 130 ‘ghost’ employees drawn since 2012
SSP Sethar said that notices had been issued to the recipients of the salaries meant for the non-existent employees. The police officials, who received the salaries on behalf of the ‘fake recruits’, have been placed under suspension and asked to explain their position in the light of the findings of the committee.
Their own salaries have been stopped till further orders.
According to the SSP, the key suspects in the racket, accountant Raja Shahid, sheet clerk Sattar Solangi, constable Azam Gopang and some others — all employees of the Thatta district police office — have been sacked. However, he added, they had gone into hiding to escape arrest.
The persons in whose name the salaries were drawn appeared to be the suspects’ family members, close relatives and friends.
The committee compiled its report under the supervision of Sultan Khowaja (the then Hyderabad Range DIG).
Headed by former Thatta SSP retired Capt Faisal Abdullah Chachar, the committee comprised Tando Mohammad Khan SSP Tauqeer Mohammad Naeem, Hyderabad ASP Abdullah Lak and Hyderabad DIG’s complaint cell in-charge Inspector Sirajuddin.
It is learnt that the suspects had damaged/destroyed part of the record pertaining to the fake employees and payment of their salaries while the investigation was under way.
It found seven to eight officials of Thatta SSP’s office actively involved in the racket and concluded that the actual culprits seemed to be an undetermined number of higher officials. An extensive probe may help find these officials, according to the inquiry team.
A loss of millions of rupees had been caused to the exchequer every month for about six years and the estimated total loss over the period comes to several billion rupees, SSP Sethar said.
The committee has approached the Sindh accountant general through a communication for help in seeking comprehensive data regarding the matter and those involved from the district treasury office.
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2018
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