RAWALPINDI, June 9: The Civil Lines police have taken three officials of Punjab Constabulary (PC) into custody for misappropriating the funds of the constabulary employees, police said.

Two separate inquiries, one by the anti-corruption department and another by the police, have been ordered to find if anybody else was involved in the scandal. Sarfaraz Ahmed, personal assistant to SSP Punjab Constabulary, Mohammad Saleem, the cashier, and Mohammad Shahbaz, a junior clerk, have been found involved in the embezzlement of funds of Mohammad Mansha, a retired assistant sub-inspector.

The scam came to light when Mr Mansha went to the accounts officer to collect his funds. He was stunned when the accounts officer told him that Rs30,000 had already been drawn from his account. Mr Mansha lodged a complaint with the top police officials, who ordered an inquiry. Preliminary inquiry led to the arrest of the three officials.

"The three officials had drawn Rs30,000 from ASI Mansha's account by faking the signatures of the SSP. They also stole funds from the accounts of two other officials of the constabulary," a senior police official told this reporter.

Police said the three officials also drew Rs25,000 from the account of a retired inspector, Hameedullah. They also embezzled CP funds of constable Zaheer Ahmed by changing his recruitment record. Zaheer Ahmed had joined the constabulary in 1999 but the tampered record showed him recruited in 1995.