BAHAWALPUR: Anti-Corruption Court Special Judge Chaudhry Abdul Rashid Abid on Monday dismissed the acquittal applications of eight suspects accused in a case of millions of rupees embezzlement in two water supply schemes of Satellite Town and Tibb Badar Shair in 2012.

The suspects, including a contractor and officials of the municipal corporation, who were on bail had moved applications for their acquittal on the basis of a new investigation report of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE). The report recommended dropping their names from the case that was registered in 2012.

The judge rejected the ACE report and instead fixed June 3 for indicting the suspects, and ordered to serve copies of the case to the suspects as well.

The two water supply schemes had not yet been taken over by the Bahawalpur Municipal Corporation. The ACE had in 2015 booked 15 officials, including the contractor, out of whom eight were taken into custody while the remaining absconding.

On the request of the suspects the ACE had re-investigated the case in January this year and submitted its report to the anti-corruption court. In its report, the organisation had sought dropping of the eight suspects from the case.

HOARDERS BOOKED: A team led by Ahmedpur East Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Usman Gilani, Tehsildar Fahim Ahmed and others claimed to have seized 400 bags of hoarded sugar and 900 maunds of wheat from the warehouses of Arshad Dhadhi and Khan Baloch, respectively and registered cases against them.

POLICE PROMOTION: Regional Police Officer Zubair Dareshak at a ceremony here on Tuesday pinned badges on six deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), who were promoted from inspectors by Punjab Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani.

The promoted DSPs included Muhammad Azhar Hussain, Muhammad Iqbal Awan, Rao Muhammad Saleem, Muhammad Imran, Shahid Warraich and Nadeem Iqbal, who were posted in different police stations of Bahawalpur division.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2021