PESHAWAR, Nov 18: Five officials of the revenue department were remanded in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau, NWFP, for ten days by an accountability court on Monday.

The accused — Haji Mohammed, Mohammed Yousaf, Mohammed Ibrar, Sareer Ahmad and Syed Mohammed Shah — were arrested from their residences by the NAB on Sunday for inflicting loss to the national exchequer by registering transfer deeds of the properties during the ban imposed by the provincial government.

The investigation officer, Masoodur Rehman, appeared before the accountability court of Judge Miftauddin Khan and contended that the accused had misused their office which was a crime under Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance, 1999. He sought the custody of the five accused.

The court decided to remand them in the custody of the NAB.

The NAB had claimed that the provincial government had placed a ban on the registration of mutations of properties on July 1, 1994 and the accused ignoring it registered hundreds of deeds on July 3 and 4 the same year.