DC claims tortured during land scam probe

Court orders physical examination, extends remand

HYDRABAD:

An Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday extended the physical remand of Matiari district deputy commissioner Muhammad Adnan Rashid by another seven days.

Sindh Anti-Corruption Establishment is interrogating Rashid for embezzlement of Rs2.14 billion worth of funds meant for land acquisition for the Sukkur-Hyderabad M6 Motorway.

The funds were maliciously drawn from a Sindh Bank account in which the National High Authority (NHA) had deposited Rs4.09 billion for the purchase of land for the motorway.

The suspended DC was brought to court in handcuffs. He told the judge that he was tortured during custody.

Responding to Rashid’s claim, the court ordered the Medical Superintendent of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences to carry out the required medical tests to see if Rashid has suffered any physical trauma.

Sindh Prosecutor General Dr Fiaz Ali Shah refuted the DC’s claim of custodial torture.

He apprised the court that the establishment has recovered Rs1.26 million from the DC and a car. In the evening, Shah was shifted to LUH after he reported chest pain.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Mansoor Abbassi, the land acquisition officer in Matiari, and Sindh Bank Assistant Manager Syed Tabish Shah secured protective bail from the court.

Abbassi had earlier obtained bail from the Sindh High Court on November 18 and Shah on November 21. The court granted them three days’ bail against a surety of Rs500,000.

The immigration wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been requested through a letter to put the names of all the persons accused in the FIR registered by ACE in the exit control list.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2022.