PESHAWAR, July 12: An accountability court on Saturday indicted 31 patwaris of the revenue department for recording mutation of properties during a ban imposed by the provincial government.

The accused patwaris pleaded not guilty to the offence and decided to stand trial.

The court presided over by Saleem Khan fixed July 28 for next hearing and summoned the prosecution witnesses.

The accused included Sameen, Ibrar, Musharraf, Mosam Khan, Dilawar, Nisar and others. One of the accused, Haji Muhammad, has been absconding and was declared a proclaimed offender.

The National Accountability Bureau claimed that the accused had inflicted Rs42.7 million loss to the exchequer by registering mutations in back dates during a ban imposed and received bribe for the job.