All raids but no arrests, what is ACE looking for in public hospitals?

Karachi
Even though the Anti-Corruption Establishment Sindh (ACE) has carried out several raids at public hospitals of Karachi on suspicions of misappropriation of funds since October 2, no case has officially been registered yet against any officer or person, raising doubts over the legitimacy of the exercise.
ACE officials, however, maintain that the ongoing operations against embezzlement have been launched on the directions of the Sindh High Court and are truly geared towards reigning in the corrupt elements afflicting the province’s health sector.
While that may be the case, as it remains a part of the modus operandi that ACE must seek the government or judiciary’s approval for probes, a troubling fact is that for a case to be actually registered and officials prosecuted, ACE has to again get the all-clear from a committee of provincial high-ups headed by the chief secretary.
The current drive began with a raid at the Civil Hospital Karachi on October 2, when ACE investigators seized files and records of procurement of the health facility.
The next raid was conducted on November 14, at Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital in SITE area, but the ACE investigators could not find any record of procurement or other spending and had to do with recording statements of accountants and other staff.
On the same day, the Sindh Government Hospital in Liaquatabad was also raided simultaneously. The investigators seized files and records but did not make any arrests, or summon any official of the administration for questioning.
Earlier this week, ACE teams raided the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Sindh Government Hospital in Korangi and two other hospitals in Badin and Umerkot districts, where the investigators similarly seized records of procurement, expenditure, appointments and recruitment.
On Friday, ACE teams arrived at Sindh Government Hospital in Saudabad, Malir, and confiscated several files which contained records of procurement and other important ledgers.
However, neither any official was taken into custody nor did the investigators summon them for recording their statements.
Similarly, last Thursday, the ACE teams had also visited the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Karachi from where they took away files and documents.
‘A lengthy process’
When contacted, ACE Sindh Director Nazar Muhammad Bozdar led with the assertion that the ongoing raids on public health facilities commenced on October 2, on the directives of the SHC.
While he clarified that the court orders for launching the drive were issued a month ago, the provincial ACE chief also conceded that, so far, no case had been registered in this particular period.
“Yes, no case has been registered against any official yet but that is only because the actual investigation is a lengthy process. At present, we are scouring the records and documents and it could take more than 15 days for cases to be registered,” said Bozdar.
Answering a question, he said ACE had strong evidence against ‘corrupt’ officials but added that inquiries were still ongoing and cases would be registered as soon as investigators felt they had enough to prosecute the suspects in court.
However, Bozdar asserted that ACE had, in the past, indeed lodged cases and cited an earlier instance when two officials in Hyderabad were booked.
He said the two men – Dr Rafique-ul-Hassan Khokhar and Dr Khalid Qureshi – had both served as former medical superintendents of Civil Hospital Hyderabad and were booked under corruption charges, with charge-sheets against them having also been submitted to a trial court.