NHA director, three others held for fraud

LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested National Highways Authority (NHA) Director Shaukat Hussain and three others over charges of causing a loss of Rs60 million to national kitty through bogus payments.

A NAB Lahore team arrested accused NHA Director Shaukat Hussain, Land Acquisition Collector Naveed Murad and two Deputy Accountants Hassan Mehmood and Muhammad Faroque. The NAB had initiated an inquiry against the accused on a complaint filed by NHA chairman in 2017. The government had started a project of extension of Bahawalpur-Rahimyar Khan 273-km long road from 2003 to 2004. The accused in collaboration with each other transferred a huge amount of Rs60 million as bogus payments for the land which was not purchased.

On Wednesday, after acquiring concrete evidence in the case, the NAB arrested the accused. They will be produced on Thursday (today) before an accountability court for their physical remand.