NAB arrests SHO for protecting suspect

Nadeem Ahmad was allegedly kept in lavish and ‘illegal’ custody

LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau Lahore (NAB) has arrested the former Barki station house officer on charges of corruption on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Naveed Azam, was accused of protecting Nadeem Ahmad by keeping the latter in “illegal protective custody”.

Nadeem had defrauded people on the pretext of providing them with houses in a society. Those who had been looted of their hard-earned  money were on the lookout for Nadeem.

Naveed reportedly kept the housing scheme owner at the police station after taking a bribe and millions worth of land which was entitled to Nadeem’s wife and other relatives.

An officer told The Express Tribune that Azam had prepared a lavish room at the police station for Nadeem Ahmad’s stay. The housing scheme suspect reportedly took up residence at the police stations for two years, he added.

He said the victims defrauded by Nadeem were searching for him to extract their looted money and initiate legal action. This “illegal detention” of Nadeem Ahmad by Naveed Azam served as “protection”.

The official added that senior police officials were aware of the SHO’s actions, including the then capital city police officer (CCPO).



As investigations proceed further, NAB will implicate these senior police officers in the investigations as well, he added. He further stated that after concluding investigations against more than 23 top bureaucrats, NAB was going to investigate the reported corruption of police officers.

Earlier, the executive board of NAB allowed investigations into the Vehari police corruption scandal. The scam, amounting to Rs5 billion, was referred to NAB for investigation by the then Inspector General of Punjab Police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera. The purpose was to probe irregularities in the accounts of the Vehari police from 2008 to 2012.

An inquiry into the matter was conducted by DIG Agha Yusif and SSP Abdul Rab. According to the inquiry report, misappropriation and embezzlement took place under the heads of fake vouchers, payment bills, salaries of police volunteers and pensions. The inquiry had found an accountant, identified as Abdul Sattar of Vehari police, was directly involved.

The prime suspect in the case was killed under mysterious circumstances in 2013 at his factory. The accused, despite being just an accountant, owned huge properties including farmhouses and factories.  Abdul Sattar was found directly involved in the scam.

However, it was expected that NAB would investigate senior police officers who remained deputed there during the tenure as the vouchers of payments were signed by them.

District Police Officers (DPOs), who remained posted there from 2008 to 2012, included Malik Tasaddaq Hayat Awan (June 2006 to June 2008), Ashar Hameed (June 2008 to May 2009), Akhtar Omer Hayat Laleka (May 2009 to Nov 2010), Ali Nasir Rizvi (Nov 2010 to Oct 2012) and Shakir Husain Dawar (Oct 2012 to April 2013).

A few weeks back, NAB also launched an inquiry into the procurement of equipment for the Dolphin Squad.

Arrest

Meanwhile, NAB Lahore has arrested another suspect identified as Farmaish Ali in the Homeland Real Estate corruption case. According to NAB’s initial investigations, the accused was involved in embezzlement of over Rs2 billion rupees and defrauding 168 victims. He was arrested after a tip from the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU).  He had also received Rs15 million from prime suspect Nadeem Ahmad in the case, NAB claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2018.