Police get remand of ex-CDA officials for five days

Former members accused of awarding illegal contract for Diplomatic Enclave shuttle service

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court Friday granted a five-day physical remand of suspects nominated in a corruption scam.

The said suspects have been accused of awarding an illegal contract for a shuttle service in the Diplomatic Enclave.

The suspects include Capital Development Authority (CDA) former member Brig (retd) Muhammad Nusratullah, CDA former director general planning Sarwar Sindu, contractor Muhammad Hussain and other serving officials of the civic body.



Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir conducted a hearing on the corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the suspects. During the proceeding, NAB Prosecutor requested the court to grant 14-day physical remand of the suspects for further investigation into the scam.

The suspects have caused a heavy loss to the national treasury through their illegal practice, he said. The prosecutor contended that the former CDA officers were accused of awarding the contract for the shuttle service to their favorite company against low cost in violation of procedure.



However, the counsel for the suspects opposed the NAB request for physical remand and stated that his client Brig. (R) Nusratullah was a heart patient. His other client Muhammad Hussain had also been attending the inquiries of the civic body in this regard, he argued.

After hearing the arguments from both sides at large, the court granted a five-day physical remand of the suspects and directed the bureau to produce them again on November 14. It may be mentioned here that the shuttle service contract was initially awarded for a period of three years from 2007 to 2010, but was later extended to 2017. Besides awarding contract to the favoured firm, the arrested individuals are also accused of providing five acres of CDA land to the firm's owner at a meager annual rent amounting to just Rs4,200.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2018.