HARIPUR: A village council secretary has been removed from service after an inquiry committee found him and three nazims guilty of misappropriating Rs7.7 million village councils’ funds.

Assistant director local government department Malik Abdul Rasheed has detected financial fraud in the accounts of Murad Abad and Shah Mohammad VCs.

The accused withdrew the amount from the official bank accounts at different times without the house approval for meeting either development or operational costs of VCs.

Hasan Nisar, the secretary Shah Mohammad VC, who had also dual charge of Murad Abad VC, was held responsible for withdrawing the money from bank accounts using fake signatures. However, the nazims have denied their involvement in the wrongdoing.

The Hairpur deputy commissioner had sent the matter for further probe to additional deputy commissioner Baidullah Shah, who after going through record of the VCs and recording the statements of the accused, recommended disciplinary action against VC secretary Hasan Nisar.

He also recommended recovery of Rs4.2 million from Murad Abad VC nazim Azhar Hussain, recovery of Rs1.2 million from secretary Hasan Nisar, recovery of Rs2.8 million from Abdul Qadir, the sitting nazim Shah Mohammad VC, and Rs900,000 from former nazim of Shah Mohammad VC.

AD local government said the matter had been referred to Local Council Board for further action.

VOLTAGE INCREASE INJURES RESIDENTS: Many residents of Shah Maqsood union council suffered burns while their electric appliances were burnt when the electricity voltage suddenly surged beyond the permissible limits here on Saturday night.

The locals told Dawn that the power supply to Gheba village and adjoining localities was suspended at around 9pm and when it was restored at 10pm the voltage shot up to 440 volts, causing short-circuiting in dozens of houses.

Munsif Khan, one of the injured, said the villagers suffered burns while switching off fans, fridges, televisions and light bulbs.

He said over two dozen villagers sustained burns in their hands and were brought to Haripur Trauma Centre, while some of them were taken to Abbottabad.

However, all the injured were in stable condition.

He demanded inquiry into sudden increase in voltage.

Meanwhile, there was no official version from Pesco due to weekly off.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2019