NAB arrests ANP leader Masoom Shah on graft charges

PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday arrested Syed Masoom Shah, who was special assistant to the then chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti, on the charges of corruption and accumulation of assets beyond his known sources of income. An official of NAB told The News that Masoom Shah was arrested from his residence in Islamabad once his arrest warrant were issued by NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.
The NAB official added that Masoom Shah was affiliated with the Awami National Party (ANP).
As per NAB’s communiqué, the accused remained public office holder during 2001 to 2005 as tehsil nazim of Shabqadar in Charsadda district and as special assistant to the then chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2010 to 2013.
The statement said the accused was dubbed as ‘SMS’ (also abbreviation of his name) for accepting bribes and misusing his political status.
The NAB claimed the accused gained illegal money that didn’t match his legal sources of income. It said his properties included a house and hujra on 12 kanal of land in Battagram village in Charsadda district, two precious plots of land in Hayatabad, Peshawar, two plots of land in Regi Model Town, also in Peshawar, and two plots of land in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Karachi.
It said the accused also owned a expensive house on Tulip Road in Bahria Town Rawalpindi, one kanal house in Zaryab Colony Peshawar, three kanal of land in Tehkal Bala Peshawar, and one kanal of land on the Warsak Road in Peshawar.
The NAB communiqué said the accused possessed huge bank balance in local and foreign bank accounts and owned precious vehicles. It added that the accused and his family members frequently visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and spent millions of rupees on shopping there.
It said the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was actively pursuing the inquiry against the accused. It added he will be produced in the Accountability Court Peshawar today for obtaining his physical remand.
In June 2015, the Ehtesab Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had also issued his arrest warrant for making illegal assets, but the Peshawar High Court (PHC) stopped it from arresting him till next order of the court.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah submitted that the Ehtesab Commission in the last week of May had summoned the petitioner and asked him to fill out a form about his movable and immovable assets.
He submitted that the Ehtesab Commission inquiry into assets of the petitioner was illegal and against the law as the NAB had already initiated an inquiry in 2013 that was still pending.