PESHAWAR, Aug 13: An official has demanded inquiry into the affairs of the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (Pard) Peshawar and protection to female officials of the academy.

Addressing a news conference at the press club here on Saturday, Ms Majida, sister of a Pard senior official Nazneen Shad, demanded of the federal government to provide her (Nazneen) protection at the hands of Pard director general Maj. Gen. (retd) Akbar Saeed Awan, who was allegedly involved in misappropriation of the academy’s funds, resources and harassment of women officials. She said Saeed Awan had been exerting pressure on her sister (Nazneen) to vacate her bungalow (A-3 in the Pard colony) and move into a co-accommodation facility, where female officials had no protection.

In the past, Ms Majida claimed, a cafeteria boy, Mohammad Nabi, molested a female official and the Pard authorities covered up the issue by terminating his (Mr Nabi) service. She said her sister and entire family had great confidence in the judiciary and they were ready to survive the threats and vandalism by Saeed Awan.

She alleged that Saeed Awan had got chopped down oldest trees in connivance with Ismatullah Shah, a research associate at Pard, and sold them out on the lowest price of Rs350,000, while their real worth was Rs2 million. She said the DG was also involved in the mosque scam. She said: “Saeed Awan says the renovation of the DG House will cost Rs3 million, which is a huge amount. We will send all proofs of his corruption to the National Reconstruction Bureau”.

She said they were ready to face any kind of litigations.

Ms Majida alleged that Saeed Awan was persuading to the Pard officials and other employees to have a social boycott of Nazneen Shad, which had exposed the real face of the director general.