BAHAWALPUR, July 14: The probe into Rs3.3 million alleged scam in postal stamps in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education has been transferred to the National Accountability Bureau from Anti-Corruption Establishment. It is learnt through reliable sources that a NAB team has taken charge of the inquiry, earlier being conducted by the ACE, which had identified a number of BISE employees for their involvement in the alleged scam.

The Punjab government had also conducted a separate probe into the alleged fraud and an inquiry team comprising Rana Khalid Mahmood, Prof Nasim Baloch and Ms Fakhra Tabasum had issued a charge-sheet to four board employees from audit branch, and a postal stamp machine operator. The accused were already on bail.

During the financial year 2000, out of total postal stamps budget of Rs2.5 million, an audit of Rs0.5 million was carried out, which revealed the alleged misappropriation of funds.

It was learnt that the practice had been continuing for the past many years, but the postal staff members inspecting the stamp machine had not mentioned any irregularity in their annual reports. This led to the scrutiny of the past years’ accounts, which revealed the alleged fraud by the board officials.

The BISE high-ups had admitted a fraud of Rs1.8 million and the board paid Rs1.3 million to the postal department, while an amount of Rs0.5 million was still disputed. Some board officials were also arrested but were later released. — Correspondent