Crackdown on timber mafia pledged

MANSEHRA: The mafia involved in cutting of forests in Hazara and other parts of province would be brought to justice, a senior official of the Anti-Corruption Establishment, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said on Tuesday.
“We are going to start a crackdown against timber smugglers and officials of Forest Department in Hazara and other parts of province from the next week,” Ziaullah Toru, director Anti-Corruption Establishment, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told a press conference here.
He said that the timber smuggling and illegal cutting of forest has come down drastically in the province owing to effective actions.An inquiry into the alleged embezzlement of funds in the construction of Saiful Maluk lake road was in progress, he added.
The official said that financial embezzlement in collection of toll tax in Mansehra would be probed and those found involved would be taken to justice.Ziaullah Toru said that his department having legal jurisdiction to probe the embezzlement of funds and sale of jobs in any university in the province and if needed corruption investigation would also be launched in any University in the province.He said that the department had arrested hundreds of employees and recovered Rs1.27 billion embezzled money.