SAHIWAL:Three officials posted of the Highway Sub-Division, Chichawatni, were suspended from service on charges of corruption under the Punjab Employees Efficiency Discipline and Accountability Act 2016.

The officials identified as Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Muhammad Khalid, Muhammad Faizan Naseer and Muhammad Tahir Javed, both senior sub-engineers, were posted at the Ravi Toll Plaza, one of the busiest traffic routes, with its annual contract ranging from Rs120m to Rs130m.

The toll plaza is located at the River Ravi and it runs under EXEN and superintendent engineer of the Communication and Works Department, Sahiwal.

The accused officials were involved in overcharging toll from trucks and buses, collecting tolls without issuing receipts to commuters and submitting less toll fee to the national exchequer as was agreed under agreement at Ravi Toll Plaza.

Sources said the total amount of corruption was around Rs14m and corruption of Rs9m had been proven and the information was shared with the department by the Special Branch. It is said the toll plaza staff under the said three officials would deposit daily Rs200,000 to Rs250,000 with exchequer while they were collecting more than Rs350,000 cash.

Provincial Secretary Sohail Ashraf appointed Rana Azhar Hussain, superintendent engineer, Faisalabad, as the inquiry officer. The secretary, in his report, (a copy available with Dawn) wrote there were sufficient grounds to take action under PEEDA Act.

Sources close to the situation reported that warnings were issued to local high-ranking officials of the C&W department for negligence in addressing the corruption issue.

SUSPENDED: Sahiwal DPO Rana Tahir suspended Noor Shah Police Station SHO Haseebul Hasan from service for illegally detaining an overseas Pakistani and his two brothers.

The DPO ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident and immediate release of the victims.

According to reports, an England-based man, a resident of Thata Arain Tootwala, along with his two brothers, was arrested by Noor Shah police without any charges. The arrested individuals were taken to the police station where they were badly treated. There are reports that the SHO arrested them on instructions of a powerful individual of the area to settle his personal score.

The matter was brought to the attention of the RPO who subsequently tasked the DPO with investigating the incident. Following the inquiry, the DPO suspended the SHO.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025