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Friday March 29, 2024

Former KDA chief remanded in police custody till tomorrow

By our correspondents
September 27, 2017

Former Karachi Development Authority (KDA) Director General Nasir Abbas has been remand in police custody in a money laundering case until September 28. The Judicial Magistrate (South) ordered the case investigation officer to produce the accused at the next hearing and to submit an interrogation report.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Abbas on September 16 over fraud charges. The arrest was made by the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle of the FIA as the former KDA chief is accused of obtaining two Pakistani passports through mis-declaration and concealment of facts, posing to be a businessman instead of a government servant.

While the suspect has been granted in the passport fraud case in the sum of Rs0.1 million, he has now been remanded in police custody in case pertaining money laundering and corruption charges.

FIA sources said they had received a complaint from Azhar Hussain Kalwar, deputy assistant director regional of the Passport Office, Saddar, Karachi.  During the course of an inquiry (No. 45/2017), it transpired that KDA Director General Syed Nasir Abbas had obtained two Pakistani passports by mis-declaration and concealment of facts, declaring himself to be a businessman instead of a government servant. 

According to the complaint, an application was moved to the FIA’s Karachi director with the subject “Grant of passport in favour of Syed Nasir Abbas DG KDA Karachi’.  It said, “I am directed to refer to the subject cited above and to say that Syed Nasir Abbas has applied for the grant of subsequent passport in this office, and while processing his case it transpired that Syed Nasir Abbas obtained his previous passport reported lost with profession as business owner, whereas he has mentioned his profession as government service while applying for the subsequent passport. Copies of  data form along with connected documents are enclosed.”

The initial investigation showed that during scrutiny of the declaration/application form it transpired that in the column of profession the accused had declared himself to be a “business owner instead of a government servant” and acquired the passport. Whereas, in response to another letter of this office, i.e. the assistant director, GS/Senior Citizen Branch, Regional Passport Office, Saddar, the accused through his letter supplied scanned copies of the declaration/application form pertaining to the issuance of a passport in respect of Syed Nasir Abbas.

From the inquiry conducted and the evidence on record, it has been established that the KDA official had obtained the manual Pakistani Passport from Toronto as well as MRP KQ 1013821 from the Regional Passport Office, Saddar, by mis-declaration and concealment of facts.

The  facts are said to have constituted the commission of an offence punishable under Section 6(1)(a)(c) of the Passport Act 1974.  A case was registered with the approval of the competent authorities, and the KDA official was formally arrested.