NAB leaving no stone unturned

Takes to task seven MPAs, four former military officers, five bureaucrats

QUETTA: On the instructions of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, the Balochistan bureau has initiated legal proceedings against provincial lawmakers, former military officials and bureaucrats over corruption charges.

According to details, upon corruption complaints received during the first quarter of 2018 the NAB initiated inquiry against 16 high-profile persons, including seven MPAs, four former military officials and five bureaucrats.

The seven MPAs include; Obaidullah Babat, Rehmat Saleh Baloch, Malik Kakar, Ismael Gujjar, Ineeta Irfan, Jan Mohammad Jamali and Ameer Zaman.



NAB Chairman Iqbal has also given a go ahead to probe two former lieutenant generals Afzal Janjua and Obaidullah Khatak and two former brigadiers Iftikhar Mehdi and Asad Shehzada in two different cases of corruption.

During the same span of time, the Balochistan NAB filed references against former Balochistan additional chief secretary Ali Zaheer Hazara, former Balochistan Development Authority chairman, and former Water and Sanitation Authority managing director Hamid Lateef Rana, while it arrested sitting MPA and former food minister Izhar Khoso and Food Secretary Noor Ahmed Pirkani over corruption allegations.

Separately, the premier anti-graft watchdog in the first quarter of the current year handed over a cheque of Rs150 million recovered from corrupt elements to the Balochistan government.



Meanwhile, the untiring efforts of the NAB also bore fruit and properties of over Rs1 billion accumulated by the accused in mega corruption case were also transferred to the Balochistan government from Sindh, besides recovery of Rs470 million.

Soon after assuming office in January 2018, Balochistan NAB Director Mirza Mohammad Irfan Baig formed teams to arrest proclaimed offenders (POs) that yielded positive results and several POs were apprehended after the information was shared with intelligence agencies and other departments by the team constituted for the said purpose.