Ziaullah booked in one more case

PESHAWAR: The Ehtesab Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday booked former minister for mines and minerals development Ziaullah Afridi in another illegal mining case and obtained his 13-day physical remand from the Ehtesab Court.
On August 6, the Ehtesab Commission obtained six days custody of the former minister in a new case about award of a mining contract against the prescribed rules and inflicting Rs3 billion loss to the exchequer.
Both the former minister and his lawyers Abdul Latif Afridi and Mauzzam Butt expressed concern over charging the minister in a fresh case after expiry of his custody in another case.
The Ehtesab Court Judge, Subhan Sher Khan, granted the physical remand of Ziaullah Afridi in the new case. However, he was on judicial custody in the earlier case of misuse of authority and illegal appointments, postings and transfers.
When he was produced in the court, Additional Deputy Prosecutor General of the commission, Qazi Babar Irshad, informed the bench that the commission had booked him in another illegal mining case related to Abbottabad district and he was required to appear before the commission for an inquiry in the new case.
He further submitted that the minister was involved in illegal mining and issuance of illegal challan regarding transfer of phosphate mines in Abbottabad.
During hearing, Ziaullah Afridi, with permission of the judge, informed the court that had made a high-level committee for the purpose including director NAB KP and director Anti-Corruption and he had no involvement in issuance of challans and illegal mining.
He once again reiterated in the court that he was being politically victimised as Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was allegedly pressuring officials for recording statements against him in the cases.
The minister submitted that investigation into illegal mining was completed before his arrest, but the commission was using the case in parts for keeping him in custody, which he termed an injustice.
The former PTI minister, through court reporters, also called upon the party’s Chairman Imran Khan to take notice of the issue as he said he was being politically victimised, adding that the cases against him were one-sided and from Nowshera district, the hometown of the chief minister.