Former SRB officer, accomplices indicted in corruption case

An accountability court (AC) on Wednesday indicted a former district officer of the Sindh Revenue Board, Allah Bachayo Chandio, and his accomplices, Ali Akbar Hingoro, Shaukat Hussain and Sabir Hussain, in a corruption reference.

They are accused of causing a great loss to the national exchequer by selling more than 77 acres of the government lands against throw away-rates.

The accused, however, denied the charges after which the AC ordered the prosecution to produce the witnesses before the court to record their statements.

Sharjeel Memon’s plea 

The same court has also fixed February 24 to hear the bail plea of former minister Sharjeel Inam Memon in an inquiry. Memon is alleged to have allotted forest lands to some people illegally. The application said the case had been registered by the NAB and Memon feared that he would be arrested if he came to Pakistan.

He requested the court to grant him interim bail. The court fixed February 24 to hear the viewpoint of the state counsel on the bail plea.

Sharjeel Memon along with other is also facing a reference of corruption in which he has been strictly ordered by the AC concerned to appear before the court or to face the processing being declared as proclaimed offender.

China cutting case 

An accountability court (AC) on Wednesday accepted the application for a plea bargaining filed on behalf of accused Asif Lania in a ‘china cutting’ case. The court fixed March 2 to hear the case against other accused.

Accepting the plea, the court directed the prosecution to delete the name of Asif Lania as accused. The court will hear the china cutting corruption case against 13 accused, including former additional director Mumtazul Haque, former master planning Akhlaq Ahmed and another former officer Muneer Ahmed.

Five accused, including Ahsan alias Chunu Mamu and other men said to be the activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, have already been declared as proclaimed offenders.