HYDERABAD: The Accountability Court-II judge on Tuesday framed amended charge against all accused in the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway (M6) land acquisition scam case after one more accused got interim pre-arrest bail and appeared in the court.

According to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Jangu Khan, one more co-accused Abdul Ghaffar Depar, accountant in the deputy commissioner Naushahro Feroze office, has joined the trial. He first obtained protective bail from the Sindh High Court and then interim pre-arrest bail.

On Tuesday, he appeared before the court which had fixed the case for framing of the amended charge. The amended charge is framed whenever a new accused is arrested or joins investigation, according to the prosecutor. The charge was framed against all the accused.

He said the case was adjourned till April 17. Those who are in custody, like former Matiari DC Adnan Rasheed, former AC Mansoor Abbasi and others, joined the court proceedings through zoom. The accused denied the charge.

The Accountability Court-II judge framed the charge against 26 accused out of 42 nominated in the scam. Besides the 26 accused who are either on bail or in custody, 13 are still at large.

Earlier, the court had framed charge against the accused when the NAB filed a supplementary chargesheet in the land scam case, involving Matiari and Naushahro Feroze districts.

The NAB filed a Rs5.8bn embezzlement of funds reference in these two districts where M6 is to be built. Initially, the reference for embezzlement in Matiari was filed followed by a reference pertaining to the Naushahro Feroze case. According to supplementary reference, the total number of accused has increased from 19 to 42. The embezzled amount remained unchanged i.e. Rs5.8bn.

Former Matiari DC Adnan Rasheed, former assistant commissioner Mansoor Abbasi and several Sindh Bank and revenue officers, are facing the charges. Naushahro Feroze DC Tashfeen Alam Khan has already fled the country.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2024