NAB KP arrests Mardan varsity officials

PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday arrested the treasurer and procurement officer of the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan on corruption charges.

A communiqué said that NAB KP arrested Shafiqullah, Treasurer, (BPS-19) and Pir Asfandyar, Procurement Officer, (BPS-18) of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan on the charges of embezzling millions of rupees allocated for purchase of IT equipment, furniture, lab chemicals and equipment. It said the accused in connivance with Dr Ihsan Ali, then Vice-Chancellor, AWKUM, illegally purchased substandard IT and lab equipment, chemicals and furniture from their blue-eyed contractors in violation of procurement laws.

Pir Asfandyar, Procurement Officer AWKUM, in league with other accused misused his authority and illegally issued supply orders for the purchase of furniture at highly exorbitant rates to the favorite bidder.

He maneuvered the procurement process for purchase of lab chemicals and IT and lab equipment and illegally issued supply orders at highly exorbitant rates.

The communiqué said that Shafiqullah illegally processed bills of millions of rupees for these procurements. It said the accused caused huge loss to the exchequer.

Travel agent gets two-year jail in Peshawar: The Accountability Court Peshawar awarded two years jail term the other day to an accused Abdullah Jan of Afridi Hajj and Umrah Services Peshawar and imposed a fine of Rs 8.8 million for cheating public at large.

The accused person along with co-accused, who opted for a plea bargain, was running a travel agency in the name of Afridi Hajj & Umrah Services Private Ltd Peshawar. They collected Rs340,000 to Rs380,000 per person from 31 intending pilgrims to provide them private Hajj facility. When the Hujjaj reached the airport, they found out that accused had deprived them of their hard earned money.