Cheema remanded in NAB custody for 11 days

LAHORE: An accountability court Thursday granted 11-day physical remand of LDA’s former director general Ahad Khan Cheema to NAB Lahore in the Ashiana Housing Scheme case.

The incumbent CEO of Quaid-i-Azam Thermal Power (Pvt) Ltd (QATPL) Ahad Cheema was presented before accountability judge Muhammad Azam’s court, where the NAB prosecutor requested for a two-week remand on the grounds that the accused had processed and awarded the contract of Ashiana Housing Scheme on the basis of nepotism. However, the court granted a physical remand of the accused for 11 days and directed the NAB to produce him again on March 5.

LDA’s ex-DG was brought to the accountability court in an armoured vehicle under tight security, with a heavy contingent of police deployed in and around the court. Lahore DC, DIG Operations, SP Headquarters and SP City were also present in the court. t is pertinent to mention Cheema, a close aide of Punjab chief minister, was arrested a day earlier by NAB Lahore on the charges of alleged misuse of authority in awarding the Ashiana housing project for gratification.

He was also charged for not cooperating with the NAB’s ongoing inquiry into the affairs of Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) and the award of Rs14 billion Ashiana project to Lahore Casa Developers, a consortium of M/s Anhui Construction Engineering Group owned by Ali Sajjad, M/s Bismillah Engineering Company owned by Nadeem Zia and M/s Sparco Group.