LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has arrested Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the principal secretary to former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi, who is already facing trial in multiple corruption cases.

A NAB team took custody of Mr Bhatti from Gujranwala, where he had been sent on a judicial remand in another corruption case.

A NAB official says the former secretary was arrested on charges of embezzlement to the tune of Rs1 billion in the award of development contracts, misuse of authority and involvement in illegal recruitment in Gujrat and other cities. The accused, with the connivance of his abettors, including Mehar Azmat Hayat, a Punjab Highway Department XEN, managed to get payment of dues for 116 development schemes before even start of work on the projects in Gujrat and thus minted more than Rs1 billion during the process.

The alleged corruption money was then transferred to the personal bank accounts of Parvez Elahi, his son Moonis Elahi, who had escaped abroad before dislodging of his father as the chief minister, and Mr Bhatti himself, claims the NAB official.

The NAB team took the accused in custody from the Gujranwala Central Jail and would produce him before an accountability court in Lahore on Monday (today).

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2023