QAU security lapse: Conmen dupe VC twice

Claimed they were from commissioner’s office; nobody checked their IDs

MANSEHRA/ ISLAMABAD: A doctorate doesn’t make one street smart. Quaid-e-Azam University Vice Chancellor Dr Javaid Ashraf learnt this the hard way after a pair of fraudsters conned him, not once but twice, in a matter of days.

According to a complaint filed by Dr Ashraf, two unidentified men came to his office and said they were from the office of the Islamabad chief commissioner.

The men said they have been directed to install security cameras at the campus and for this purpose sought a payment of Rs10,000, Dr Ashraf said.

The duo came again, a few days later, and again took Rs10,000 for the same purpose. The secretariat police have registered the complaint against unidentified men for fraud and misrepresenting a government officer.

Interestingly nobody checked the suspects’ identities at the campus gate, the admin block entrance, or even the VC’s office.

Furthermore, the VC and the management did not bother to check why the commissioner’s office would fail to send an official letter or at least written instructions.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2017.