NAB investigation officer threatened at court

Accused in Rs80m Rapid Mass Transit scam captured.

LAHORE: The Accountability Court saw a fair amount of action yesterday when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Danish Gulzar, who along with his father Shamshad Gulzar, is an accused in the Rs400 million Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System (LRMTS) scam, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Shazia Akram, lawyer for the accused, tried to orchestrate Danish’s escape from the Accountability Court’s premises by hiding him in the trunk of her car. However, the NAB’s intelligence wing foiled her plan.

Danish was wanted by the NAB and was also a court absconder with regards to the Accountability Court. Akram presented her client in the Accountability Court after a NAB investigation team had left the court in the same case. Her strategy, it appears, was to end her client’s court absconder status.

After Akram and her client left the court, the NAB team returned and apprehended Danish. Sources in the NAB say that while being arrested, Danish threatened the investigation officer (IO).

On the same day, Shamshad Gulzar, the former clerk of the Punjab Transport Department, and his brother, Kamran Gulzar, and son, Azam Shamshad, appeared before the Accountability Court judge Falik Sher Farooq prior to Shamshad’s son Danish’s appearance at court. Shamshad was being brought from prison while Kamran and Azam were present at court for a post arrest bail hearing.After the hearing, the three men threatened IO Nadeem Sajid of the Financial Crime Investigation Wing of the NAB Punjab. Shamshad was handcuffed but the other two men chased the IO who managed to escape from them.

The NAB Punjab director general Justice (retd) Rana Zahid has taken serious notice of the incident and directed the Race Course Police Station SHO to take immediate action against the three men. He asked the police to provide proper security to the IO.Danish Gulzar, according to sources, is involved in the LRMTS scam and even during the NAB’s raid escaped with a bag of gold worth Rs80 million.

The NAB has recovered Rs320 million but Rs80 million is still missing. Danish Gulzar will be presented before the Accountability Court again today to get physical remand for interrogation and recovery of the remaining monies.

The NAB Punjab director Atiqur Rehman told The Express Tribune the accused men with the help of officials in the Accountant General’s office had withdrawn Rs400 million from the national exchequer using bogus bills.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2011.