KOHAT, Feb 28: The anti-corruption department, Kohat, has arrested two officials of the revenue department, including a grade-18 officer, on the charges of committing millions of rupees corruption in Jarma housing scheme here.

Sources in the revenue department identified the two accused as tehsildar Ikramullah and girdawar Sohail Iqbal, while raids were being conducted for the arrest of another accused girdawar Waheedullah. They said that the three had allegedly committed corruption of Rs190 million.

The sources claimed that the accused had also prepared travel documents of Canada to leave the country, but they were arrested in a raid by the anti-corruption officials.

They said that the accused had obtained Rs1 million as down payment for a plot from hundreds of people in Jarma housing scheme and deposited Rs100,000 in the relevant bank by deleting one zero from the cheques. The victim people mostly include the internally displaced persons who have applied for plots to construct their houses. They trusted the revenue staff to deposit their money in the bank because most of them were illiterate.

The sources said that the affected people held several jirgas (meetings) with Mr Waheed, but he was not ready to return their money.

They then approached the provincial anti-corruption department for recovery of their money. The case remained pending for three months and now orders had been issued for registration of case and arrest of the three officials.

When contacted, Kohat anti-corruption department’s assistant director Mian Mustafa Gul confirmed the matter and told Dawn that the two arrested accused had been shifted to a secret place for preliminary interrogation. He said that the two would be handed over to the KDA police station and presented in the court of senior civil judge for securing their physical remand on Friday (today).

He said that both the accused had been booked under sections 420, 468, 471 and 502 of the PPC.