The Sindh government will approach the federal government to get a red warrant issued through Interpol for the return of a former Naushehro Feroze deputy commission in the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway embezzlement case.
Karachi Administrator and Sindh government spokesperson Barrister Murtaza Wahan said this at a press conference on Monday in the Sindh Assembly Committee Room. Funds allocated for motorways have been frozen in six districts of Sindh, which, he said, the deputy commissioner alone cannot. Bank and National Highway Authority (NHA) staff, he said, can also be involved in the embezzlement case.
With reference to an ongoing fact-finding inquiry into the misappropriation of lands in Matiari, Wahab said that the chief minister had ordered action against the alleged fraudsters. The committee confirmed irregularities in the preliminary report and a Joint Investigative Team was formed under the chairmanship of the home secretary.
During the inquiry, the Sindh government froze the funds allocated for the motorway in six districts. The assistant commissioner had obtained bail from the court, but later he was also taken into custody. So far Rs420 million have been recovered and the inquiry is going on.
Wahab said some officers of a bank have been detained and some private people are also involved. Irregularities have also been found and an FIR has been registered in the Nowshehro Feroze district. The deputy commissioner fled the country on November 18.
Wahab said that the provincial anti-corruption authorities would contact the federal government so that a red warrant could be issued from the Interpol for the former deputy commissioner. “The provincial government has taken timely action and has been able to prevent irregularities,” he said.
By arresting those who consider themselves above the law, the Sindh government has proved that they would not be spared, he remarked. Wahab said the Sindh government would go to the bottom of the matter and action would be taken against the culprits.
In response to a question asked about Imran Khan, he said Khan “is not a former prime minister; he is a king, he is an emperor. Whatever he says, he takes a U-turn after a few hours.” Khan, he said, continued to take U-turns after coming into power.
The Sindh Local Government Act, he said, empowers the Sindh government to appoint an administrator. He said that there have been target killings of firefighters in Karachi and he would find out about threats to firefighters from jails.
He said he would ask jail authorities how an inmate is making threats over the phone. The Sindh government, he said, has a mechanism to catch corruption. Pakistan’s legal system, he said, needs to be improved, as the accused are acquitted and Perween Rahman case is an example of this.