Archaeology director misappropriated precious antiques, sculptures: NAB sources

ISLAMABAD: Although the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has taken a notice of the arrest of Director Archaeology and Museums Dr Abdus Samad, yet the NAB sources said he has been arrested on serious charges of role in missing of expensive archaeological relics and statues and corruption in some projects.

The NAB is of the view that any illegal appointment of any pay scale is a corruption and cannot be overlooked as per law of the land.

The NAB sources said the recent referral of several cases of class-IV employees appointments to the NAB KP for investigation by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) proves that violation of state rules and procedures is a serious crime.

According to sources in NAB, a campaign has been launched by the sympathisers of the accused Dr Abdus Samad to hinder the Bureau’s efforts.

They said the campaigners are adamant on proving the myth that foreign qualified PhDs are not susceptible to any sort of corruption.

The NAB sources claimed the accused Dr Abdus Samad has not only made several illegal appointments but he was also involved in misappropriation of antiques, sculptures and other valuable antiques which is being investigated by a team of highly-qualified experts.

Sources said Dr Abdul Samad remained overall in-charge of the Archaeology Department for the last five years and during the course of investigations it surfaced that some of the antiques worth billions of dollars in museums are either missing or not as per description available in record which raises serious questions concerning their genuineness.

“The accused person has committed gross violation of laws in issuing NOCs of important Archaeological sites causing serious damage to the national heritage,” sources privy to the investigation stated.

Sources said the important functionaries of the KP government could be called in connection with this case. Similarly, the accused is allegedly involved in another case of corruption at Heritage Trail being investigated by the NAB. “The initial cost of the project was Rs200 million which was drastically increased to Rs714 million with ulterior motives,” the source claimed.

Sources said the NAB as per the vision and direction of the chairman put all out efforts to proceed with the cases without harming the self-respect and self-esteem of all accused persons.