PESHAWAR, Dec 12: The National Accountability Bureau appears to be losing its usefulness in the NWFP as no politician has been arrested over the last three years, claimed lawyers dealing with accountability cases.

The information gathered by Dawn showed that since Jan 6, 2002, when the present interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, was arrested on his arrival from abroad in Peshawar, not a single politician has been arrested on charges of corruption.

The last person, related to a politician, arrested by the NAB in the province was Haji Anwar-ur-Rehman, father of former MNA Haji Naseemur Rehman. He was charged in a reference along with his sons and grandsons. He was arrested on Aug 15, 2002.

Haji Naseemur Rehman initially did not turn up before the NAB and was declared a proclaimed offender. He was handed down a three-year jail term in absentia under section 31-A of the NAB Ordinance, 1999. All the accused in the reference pertaining to possession of illegal assets were acquitted by the accountability court.

The conviction of Haji Naseemur Rehman was also set aside by the Supreme Court and his case was remanded back. Now the case about his absconding from law is pending before the accountability court.

The first politician produced before the Accountability Court in Peshawar was former NWFP Chief Minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan. He was produced before the court on Feb 7, 2000. He was charged in what was called the wheat scandal reference. Mr Mehtab was followed by former federal minister for communication Azam Hoti.

The cases of both Mr Mehtab and Mr Hoti were shifted to the Accountability Court in Attock Fort. They were convicted by the court there and were sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment. While the conviction of Mr Mehtab was set aside by the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, the appeal of Mr Hoti is pending before the high court.

Mr Sherpao was produced before the accountability court on Jan 6, 2002 and was remanded in the custody of NAB for 15 days. He was charged in various cases, including the Ring Road land acquisition case, Hayatabad plots case, illegal appointment in education department, etc.

Mr Sherpao was sentenced in absentia to three years rigorous imprisonment under section 31-A of the NAB Ordinance under which a person absconding from law could be convicted by the accountability court.

Mr Sherpao was acquitted in all the cases. In the Ring Road case along with him, a former bureaucrat Jawed Alam Khanzada and former director general of Peshawar Development Authority, Syed Zahir Shah, were also charged.

Mr Khanzada, who committed suicide a few days ago, was also charged in other references. Through plea bargain, he paid Rs65 million to the NAB and on Aug 22, 2001, the accountability court issued his release orders.

Lawyers dealing with NAB cases said that no high-profile bureaucrat had been arrested during the past two and a half years. The last arrested officer of grade 20 was an ex-commissioner of Income Tax department, Abdul Ali Khan, who was arrested on May 21, 2002. He has been in custody and is facing trial on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

A deputy director of Minerals Department, Akber Khan, was arrested on July 24, 2002. He was convicted by the trial court on April 22 and was sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs2.56 million. He was released on bail by the high court.