ASF evaded rules in purchase of Rs243m worth of weapons: report

Auditor General of Pakistan calls for fixing responsibility for the ‘irregularity’

ISLAMABAD: The Airport Security Force (ASF) evaded the set standard operating procedure (SOP) in the purchase of weapons worth Rs243 million, said a report by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) on Wednesday.

According to the 2017-18 audit report, the weapons purchased in the past one year are also not available in stock.

The ASF bought weapons from the Paragon Multi-Services Company, the Pak-Japan Trading Company and Zafar-Azfar and Co.



365 9mm pistols were purchased for Rs62.049 million along with 1,485 SMG guns of different specifications for Rs181.086 million.



The audit report says neither the quality and quantity certificate was received nor were weapons present in the stockpile.

Furthermore, the stock entries of the weapons could also be not found owing to absence of certificate.

The auditor general has requested that all those found responsible for the unlawful act must be taken to task.

The audit report further states that according to the SOP for the purchase of goods, a complete examination of material is mandatory. In this case, the government officers selected for this process were bribed into not checking the quantity, quality of the weapons, as well as, verification of the certificate.

Meanwhile, an ASF spokesperson while talking to The Express Tribune rubbished the allegation, terming it "baseless" and an effort to blackmail the force.