ACE Multan director transferred for inquiry against Nishtar hospital MS

MULTAN: In an unprecedented move, the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) has transferred the Multan Region Anti-Corruption Establishment director with immediate effect and directed him to report to S&GAD for further orders, The News has learnt here.

The notification available with this scribe mentioned that the notification was issued on Sunday (December 9).

According to the notification, Rajanpur Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) has been posted as the Multan ACE director, subject to the verification of his "conduct" and "antecedents" by the Punjab ACE.

The News has learnt that the transferred ACE Director Amjad Shoaib Tareen was investigating a number of corruption cases on merit, including the Nishtar Hospital Multan mega corruption scam. The ACE has registered a corruption case against current Nishtar Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Ashiq Malik.

The ACE had nominated Dr Ashiq Malik for alleged bogus purchase of medicines and misappropriating Rs5 million when he was the MS at Nishtar Hospital and ACE Director Amjad Shoaib Tareen was supervising the inquiry. A local court had granted pre-arrest bail to Dr Ashiq until December 21.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid visited the Nishtar Hospital on November 27. When the journalists questioned her about the appointment of the Nishtar Hospital MS, who is facing the corruption cases, she categorically said that Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and parliamentarians from south Punjab expressed a desire for his posting as the MS. The minister said that she had no role in his appointment. She said Punjab Energy Minister Dr Akhtar Malik can better answer these questions.

When the media men asked Dr Akhtar Malik, he advocated the MS, saying there is no proof of corruption against him. "If the Multan ACE has registered corruption case against Dr Ashiq Malik, it does not mean he is corrupt," he added.

When contacted, ACE ex-director Amjad Shoaib Tareen avoided commenting on his transfer, saying he is bound to obey the government orders. "I have left my seat soon after receiving the transfer orders."