QUETTA: The city’s accountability court sentenced on Tuesday an official of the food department to five years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs105.23 million for embezzlement of wheat bags at a warehouse in Hub.

The judge of the accountability court, Munawar Ahmed Shahwani, announced the verdict in view of “irrefutable evidence” gathered by the Balochistan chapter of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the convict, Assistant Food Controller Ameer Bakhsh Khoso.

An investigation found that as the supervisor of the PRC Hub, Lasbela district, Mr Khoso was involved in embezzling 23,000 wheat bags worth millions of rupees.

After the verdict’s announcement, Mr Khoso was taken into custody and sent to jail. If he fails to pay the fine, the amount can be realised by disposing of his properties, if any, by NAB.

Zameer Ahmed Chalgari, a senior prosecutor of NAB, represented the bureau in the court.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2021