PESHAWAR, April 30: An accountability court here on Friday convicted a former land acquisition collector of the National Highway Authority, Nazir Ahmad, and sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs23.2 million.

The court, presided over by Miftauddin Khan, observed that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused. Nazir Ahmad was charged with causing a loss of Rs28 million to the national exchequer by fixing exorbitant rates of land acquired for the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway in Nowshera.

He was charged under section 9 of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999. The accused was arrested on Jan 11, 2002, and was indicted by the accountability court on April 12, 2002.

Mr Ahmed was earlier convicted by the accountability court, but the accountability appellate bench of the Peshawar High Court had set aside his conviction and had remanded the case back to the accountability court for deciding certain legal points. After re-hearing, the court again found him guilty of corruption.