KARACHI: The Pakistan Rangers informed an antiterrorism court on Monday about 90-day preventive detention of another senior official of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for inquiry on charges of embezzling funds to finance terrorism.

Rangers personnel with their law officers produced the chief financial officer of the SSGC Mohammad Amin Rajput in the chamber of ATC-III Judge Saleem Raza Baloch and submitted that he was picked up within the jurisdiction of the Gizri police station.

The Rangers submitted an application with a jail warrant and a detention order and contended that the suspect was arrested on receiving credible information about his involvement in the offences related to misappropriation of funds to support terrorism and other criminal links and such offences were punishable under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Therefore, he was placed under preventive detention for three months to hold an inquiry as provided in Section 11-EEEE (1) of the ATA, the paramilitary force submitted and added that the detainee was produced with relevant documents for the information/record of the court.

The Rangers had also detained on Aug 29 deputy managing director of the SSGC Shoaib Warsi, senior general manager Kamran Naqi and former MD Zuhair Siddiqui on similar charges.

The swoop in the top bureaucratic circle of the energy company coincides with the detention of Dr Asim Hussain, former adviser/minister for petroleum and close aide of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr Hussain was also placed under 90-day preventive detention on Aug 27 for inquiry on the charges of misappropriation of funds to support terrorist activities.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2015

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