BIEK approaches police against ACE

SHO tells board officials he will have to discuss matter with high-ups before taking any action

Karachi

The chairman of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi submitted an application against the Anti-Corruption Establishment officials at the Sharea Noor Jehan police station in the wee hours of Saturday for interfering in government work, harassment at work, detaining the board’s employees and taking away its office’s property without providing anything in writing about the action.

BIEK chairman Mohammad Akhtar Ghori and other officials of the board went to file an FIR at the police station, but SHO Muhammad Akram Arain told them that he would have to discuss the matter with police high-ups before he could do that.

The board officials left the police station after 3:30am and went back to the BIEK building.

“The ACE is also a government department and it has received complaints against the BIEK. We have to see look into the matter carefully before taking any action,” the SHO told The News.

Before reaching the police station at around 1:15am, the BIEK chairman called an emergency press conference at the board office just before midnight. There, he levelled serious allegations against the ACE deputy director West Fauwad Soomro and his team.

Ghori said the ACE team which had been visiting the BIEK office daily since August 9 had taken away almost all answer scripts of students in gunny bags along with a few computers and other items without any permission or giving any receipts.

“The ACE did not bother to share any information with us. Now with all the answer booklets gone, their creditability is comprised. How can we announce results? What should we do now?”  He maintained that since day one, the BIEK staff was cooperating with the ACE officials and allowed them to visit even the “most sensitive places” of the board office. “However, the ACE officials misused their powers and created turmoil at the board office.”

The BIEK chairman said he had informed the provincial authority concerned on the evening of August 10 about the misconduct of the ACE team and waiting for its response.

He added that the board officials had also mentioned in previous press conferences that the preparation of the pre-medical result was about to enter its last stage, which usually took three or four days, but the ACE was insisting that results were tampered with, which was a totally misleading and false statement.

“Tampering results at this stage is impossible. The ACE has no idea how results are prepared. Several people and sections are involved in preparing the results and professors tender their services at the final stages. The results can only be finalised if the professors have expressed their satisfaction. Otherwise, the examination board cannot announce the results and that is why the BIEK is not accepting the ACE’s charges.”

Ghori said the ACE team went to the script rooms, the IT section and other sensitive and confidential places, ransacked all the records which were in order before their arrival, and also damaged the main server.

He said after the three days of ACE raids at the BIEK office, the situation had started returning to normal on Friday evening. However, he alleged that as soon as the controller of examinations issued a statement that the main server had start working, the ACE team once against started threatening board’s employees and some officials of the corruption watchdog took away answer copies and computers.

The BIEK chairman said the ACE team had not only brought its own armed guards but was also accompanied by the police. “The police were supporting them without knowing what the issue was.”

He added that ACE deputy director West had misused his powers, gripped the collars of senior employees and warned them to leave the area.

“How can a government official talk in such a tone? The ACE deputy director was telling BIEK officials to leave the room. Why did he do that?”

The BIEK chairman said the role of the investigation officer was not credible anymore.

“It seemed as if the ACE was looking for terrorists within the board’s premises and not evidence.”  

The board’s chairman said the ACE deputy director was working on some other agenda. “He is playing with the future of over 228,000 candidates, who have recently given their final papers and waiting for their results. His actions show that he is deliberately destroying the future of the Karachi’s students.”

Ghori also pointed out that if the main server did not resume working, the BIEK would lose its valuable data of the last 20 years and the ACE would be responsible for that.

“The BIEK has sent letters to the Sindh chief minister, the governor, the chief secretary, and the chief minister’s secretary for universities to intervene into the matter and save future of thousands of students.”

Ghori said the ACE had forced employees to make statements which were dictated to them. He added that the ACE had declared that it had arrested one person and he had ben remanded, but done nothing to arrest the main accused who was behind all the mess as per the corruption watchdog’s own claim.  He claimed that other examination boards were providing between 70 percent and 90 percent results but their students hardly cleared aptitude tests of reputed universities, but never had been an investigation launched against them.