QUETTA: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday filed a reference against officials of the Balochistan Local Government (LG) Department under the National Accountability Ordinance and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Investigations conducted by Balochistan NAB revealed that Assistant Director Saifullah Qaisrani, Assistant Engineer Khawaja Khan and senior clerk Ashraf Khan of the LG Department received kickbacks from the contractors of government uplift schemes executed in Shirani district. The kickback money was received by senior clerk Ashraf Khan through his personal salary account, instead of the government treasury, after completion of the uplift schemes.

After gathering concrete evidence the NAB filed the reference in the Accountability Court, Quetta, against the accused. Balochistan NAB Director General Farma­nullah Khan has vowed to take the corrupt elements to task. He said the anti-graft watchdog was striving hard to eradicate corruption.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2020