KARACHI: A provincial anti-corruption court on Saturday allowed the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to retain the custody of a prime suspect until July 1 for further investigation into an alleged Rs8.5 billion corruption case related to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Yellow Line project.

The court also directed the investigating officer (IO) to produce the suspect again on July 1 along with a progress report. It further ordered the IO to facilitate the suspect’s access to his legal counsel for necessary assistance in accordance with the law.

The ACE had booked former Karachi Mobility Project (KMP) Project Director Zameer Abbasi, former Director of Procurement Jhaman Das, and others on the basis of an inquiry conducted by the Chief Minister’s Inspection, Enquiries and Implementation Team Department (CMIE&ITD). The inquiry pertains to alleged financial mismanagement in the KMP related to the BRT Yellow Line project.

Following the completion of his initial five-day physical remand, the IO, Inspector Sher Zaman, produced Zameer Abbasi, a grade-19 officer of the Sindh government, before the court and sought a nine-day extension of his physical remand. The IO argued that the investigation could not be properly carried out due to the Ashura holidays.

When questioned by the court, the suspect did not complain of any physical maltreatment. However, he alleged that the ACE was humiliating him and denying him access to his lawyers.

Lawyers representing the suspect argued that there was no justification for extending his physical remand. They contended that the IO had failed to substantiate the alleged offence during the course of the investigation and that any further remand would serve only to humiliate the suspect.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court observed that, according to the record, the suspect had identified certain documents during the investigation that still required verification from the relevant offices.

“Therefore request of IO requires consideration and accused is remanded in police custody for further 04 days and IO is directed to produce the accused on 01.07.2026 with investigation progress report positively. However, the IO is strictly directed to facilitate the accused to approach his counsel for necessary assistance in accordance with law”, it concluded.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2026