MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 1: As the People’s Party has just completed one year of its rule in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, schism within its ranks has become an open secret with former prime minister Barrister Sultan Mahmood mounting his onslaught against the government amid allegations of corruption.

On Tuesday, Mr Mahmood came out with “documentary evidence of Jinnah Model Town Housing Scheme scam” in Mirpur and said it had lent credence to his apprehensions that the present AJK setup was hell-bent on making money from unfair means.

According to him, the Mirpur Development Authority (MDA) had awarded on July 25 contract of the Rs 2.6 billion project through notification number 1070-74-D 00/12 to a construction company, in spite of 10 objections by the secretary works.

One cheque of Rs150 million had been paid to the said company as ‘mobilisation advance’ and another cheque of Rs200 million was being prepared for payment, he said.

Mr Mahmood pointed out that a person who had entered into plea-bargain with the (AJK) accountability bureau had been appointed as MDA’s head while another official, who was initially suspended by the present government, was appointed as MDA’s member technical, “which spoke volumes for the designs of the present setup.”

“The Jinnah Town scam is the tip of the iceberg and in the coming days I will unearth more cases of corruption by the AJK rulers,” he said.

It may be recalled that Mr Mahmood had led the Peoples Party government in AJK from 1996 to 2001. However, when the party clinched victory in last year’s general election in AJK he could not regain the blessings of its top leadership, and instead Ch Abdul Majeed was nominated for the coveted slot.

When contacted by Dawn, Prime Minister Majeed rejected allegations of corruption against his government and without taking the name of Mr Mahmood said if anyone had any proof he should present it at the forum of parliamentary party, legislative assembly or the competent courts “instead of raising hue and cry at the public meetings.

“I want to forget the bitterness of the past but the public knows very well the worth of those who are propagating about alleged corruption in AJK and hurling abuses on me,” he said.