Qaim orders swift action to decide graft cases

Karachi
The chief minister of Sindh directed the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on Thursday to speed up action to decide 70 pending cases of corruption reported in various departments of the provincial government.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah told the chairman of the Sindh ACE to convene a meeting of Anti-Corruption Committee No 1 (ACC-1) just after Eid-ul-Azha so that 70 pending cases of the local government, irrigation, health and education departments could be decided as soon as possible.
The directives came at a meeting in which Sindh ACE Chairman Syed Mumtaz Shah briefed the chief minister at the CM House about the progress his organisation had made in the past two months.
The chief minister directed the ACE head to demonstrate zero tolerance while tackling cases of corruption.
"Once these inquiries are completed, the ACE would be given the task to comb out ghost employees from different government departments," he said.
According to the ACE head, his department has registered up to 113 FIRs and arrested 92 government officials allegedly involved in corruption and misappropriation of their authority and funds over the past two months.
Seventy-two charge sheets have been submitted to courts in connection with different corruption cases.
Of the 113 FIRs, 13 were registered in Karachi, 18 in Hyderabad, 11 in Jamshoro, nine in Mirpurkhas, one in Shaheed Benazirabad, 32 in Sukkur and 29 in Larkana district.
Similarly, 12 officials of the provincial government were arrested in Karachi, 18 in Hyderabad, seven in Jamshoro, five in Mirpurkhas, 37 in Sukkur while 13 were detained in Larkana district.
The anti-corruption committee No 1 is presided over by provincial chief secretary Mohammad Siddique Memon.
The ACE chairman said three meetings of the ACC-1 were held in August in which 190 cases were reviewed and approval was accorded to registering 34 FIRs and opening 110 inquiries, besides reopening 56 more cases. At the end of August, the province’s corruption watchdog had reported arrests of 52 government officers over the charges of embezzlement, the registration of 72 FIRs and the opening of 209 inquiries in June and July.
The ACE chief had said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been forwarding him cases pertaining to illegal land allotments and forgeries.
He had stated that by the end of August, the ACE had received 40 cases for inquiry and a two-member committee had been set up for scrutiny.
“It’s a good omen that the federal agencies have started showing their confidence in the ACE,” the chief minister had remarked at an earlier meeting held on August 31.
Between July 22 and August 31, four raids were conducted in Karachi’s South district wherein three officials were arrested and four FIRs registered.
In the East district, six FIRs were registered and five officers held, while in the West district, two FIRs were registered, 26 inquiries initiated and four people were arrested.
In Hyderabad, between June and August, four surprise visits were paid to different departments, three raids conducted, 17 FIRs registered and 17 officers arrested.
In Jamshoro, seven raids were carried out, nine FIRs registered, 46 inquiries launched and eight officers arrested.
Similarly, four surprise visits and seven raids were carried out in Mirpurkhas, following which eight FIRs were lodged and four officers apprehended.
In Shaheed Benazirabad, eight surprise visits and two raids were conducted. Five surprise visits and six raids were conducted in Sukkur and 13 FIRs registered, 24 inquiries launched and nine officers arrested.
In Larkana, five raids were conducted, 13 FIRs registered, 135 inquiries started and eight officers arrested.
Giving details of the Anti-Corruption Committee-I meeting on August 19 presided over by Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, the ACE chairman said 82 cases were considered, of which 19 were approved for the registration of FIRs and 36 for launching an inquiry into. The meeting also decided to reopen 27 cases. Then in another meeting of the ACC-1 on August 24, 18 cases were considered out of which four were approved for registration of FIRs, six for starting a probe into and eight were reopened for investigation.
Qaim grieved
Speaking on the tragedy which occurred in Mina on Thursday, the chief minister expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the deaths of 717 pilgrims in a stampede in Mina.
He prayed for the departed and expressed his heartfelt condolences for the bereaved families. The chief minister left for Khairpur on Thursday evening to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with his family.