Anti-corruption minister reviews graft cases

Provincial anti-corruption minister Jam Ikramullah Dharejo held a meeting at his office to review high-profile corruption cases.

A spokesman for the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Sindh said in a statement that a meeting was chaired by the minister for anti-corruption in his office to review high scams and matters with the ACE in Karachi’s East Zone. Anti-Corruption chairman Muhammad Wasim Ahmed, director Sohail Ahmed Qureshi and other officers attended the meeting.

Briefing the meeting, Anti-Corruption director Sohail Ahmed Qureshi said six cases against officials and beneficiaries of the Sindh Excise Department were under investigation and challans were being submitted. They were found involved in creating fictitious documents for illegal registration of illegal vehicles, he said.

“A surprise visit was paid to the office of an ex-inspector general of police, and others on allegations of their involvement in misallocation of funds and illegal works carried out in the name of the Maintenance and Repair (M&R) in many districts and massive embezzlement in the M&R budget,” he said.

The meeting was further informed about a surprise visit to the office of an executive engineer of the Education Works Division District Thatta and others on allegations of substandard work in Thatta. Another raid was conducted against officials of the DMC Malir and others for misappropriation and embezzlement of funds and sanctioning a budget of Rs300 millions.

Besides this, several cases against the revenue department and the SBCA regarding land fraud of Naya Nazimabad and Scheme 33 and illegal construction of buildings in Gulshan Town and Jamshad Town were also reviewed in the meeting. A raid against the principal of the Govt Degree Girls College North Karachi was also reviewed who was allegedly found involved in misappropriation of a huge budget.

Addressing the meeting the provincial minister for anti-corruption, industries and commerce and cooperative department, Jam Ikramuallah Dharejo, directed the relevant officers to work hard bring these cases to a logical end and get the involved people punished so that no officer and official might dare to commit corruption in future.

He said there was a clear direction of Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah not to tolerate any corruption and implement a zero tolerance policy against the ones involved in corruption.