Gujrat police fraud case adjourned

LAHORE:An accountability court on Monday adjourned the hearing of Gujrat police funds embezzlement case after handing over copies of the reference to the accused, including three former District Police Officers of Gujrat.

Former CTO Lahore Rai Ijaz appeared before the court after which the court adjourned the hearing by May 5. National Accountability Bureau had probed four former DPOs of Gujrat in this case, including SP Kamran Mumtaz, SSP Rai Ijaz, SSP Sohail Zafar Chattha and Rai Zameer. As per NAB claims, all four former DPOs during their tenure in Gujrat had embezzled billions under different heads of procurement, including petrol, uniforms, martyr funds, fake vouchers, pensions and alleged ghost employments.

It is pertinent to mention that top police officials, including Rai Ejaz and Kamran Mumtaz were arrested by the NAB. Later, both of them had secured bails from the Lahore High Court. NAB had arrested SP Kamran Mumtaz after he had returned from Australia where he had gone for attending a professional course.

The Bureau has accused him of embezzling Rs550 million under different heads, including petrol bills, allowances and martyrs funds of the police department during his posting as Gujrat DPO (2015-16). The NAB has accused SSP Rai Ijaz of causing a loss of Rs700 million to the exchequer through alleged misappropriation of police funds during his posting as Gujrat DPO. According to NAB, Ijaz spent Rs1.3 billion funds in eight months and allegedly misappropriated millions of rupees. He is also accused of involvement in appointment of “ghost” police constables.

Ijaz’s father Rai Zameer, a former DPO of Gujrat, is also wanted in this case. The other accused who were arrested by the NAB in this case included former District Accounts Officer, Gujrat namely Chan Peer (2016-17), District Accounts Officer, Gujrat Muhammad Afzal (2014-16), Muhammad Fayyaz Naqdi Muharar DPO Office, Gujrat, Rameez Ahmad ex-constable DPO Office Gujrat, Muhammad Ashraf Senior Auditor Accounts Gujrat, Muhammad Asif Butt Bank Manager, Gujrat and Shakeel Ahmad, Bank Operation Manager, Gujrat.

Youth festival: An accountability court on Monday adjourned the hearing of Punjab Youth Festival Corruption case until May 4 as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) again failed to file reference.

The court has directed NAB to file the reference and adjourned the hearing. It is pertinent to mention that nine months back, the NAB had arrested former DG Punjab Sports Board Usman Anwer. Later, Usman secured bail from the Lahore High Court. However, NAB has failed to file reference despite passing nine months. The NAB had arrested former DG Sports Board Punjab Usman Anwer on the charges of allegedly embezzling funds of the Punjab Youth Festival and violating PPRA rules in awarding contracts.

The details shared by the NAB on the arrest of Usman Anwer said that the Punjab government had arranged the Punjab Youth Festival in 2011 and 2012. Millions of rupees were embezzled during both rounds of the festival.

Moreover, the NAB has accused Usman of violating Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in awarding contracts worth millions of rupees. Later, the NAB had arrested five more persons in the case.