LAHORE, Jan 29: An ‘officer-couple’ have been suspended from service by the Pakistan Railways on the charge of embezzling millions of rupees on account of transportation and clearance charges of relief goods sent by Iran and Turkey for flood-affected people of Pakistan.

The relief goods were transported through the Container Special Train, running between Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Ankara, Tehran and Islamabad had jointly decided to exempt the cargo from any kind of charges, a source at the PR headquarters in Lahore told Dawn on Saturday.

However, Deputy Chief Operating Superintendent (Coaching) Chaudhry Bilal Sarwar and his wife Senior Commercial Manager (Freight) Fatima Bilal charged 250 to 300 Euros for each container at Turkey for transportation to Pakistan. Another $150 each for every container was also charged by the couple for clearance and transportation of relief goods to the calamity-hit areas, but the amount was not deposited with the railways.

The embezzlement surfaced when three senior officers found that the couple had received the payments in the name of PR subsidiary, the PRACS, by misusing their powers.

Another three-member committee has been constituted to further probe the embezzlement. Headed by Railways Lahore Divisional Superintendent Abdul Jabbar and comprising Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer Tariq Maqsood and Chief Commercial Manager Maqsoodun Nabi, the committee has been asked to submit a detailed report on the scam, said the source.