Accuser turns out to be accused

A female officer of the  Sindh Irrigation and  Drainage Authority (SIDA) who had leveled a harassment allegation against another officer of the authority has been accused of embezzling Rs41 million funds in connivance with another contractual staff.  

The 58th meeting of  the SIDA’s  board  on Thursday also ordered the registration of FIR against  BPS- 18 Sociologist Shakeela Laghari besides dismissing her sexual harassment accusation against Naeem Memon, General Manager of Finance.

Laghari was not available for comment but her harassment plea is fixed for hearing on January 30 before the ombudsman. The board’s meeting, presided over by Chairman SIDA Qabool Muhammad Khatian, directed the authority to lodge an FIR  with Sindh Anti Corruption Establishment within  24 hours, nominating Laghari and Ma’az  Effandi,  contractual inspector works in SIDA.

The accused officials alleg- edly embezzled the funds in  the garb of paying compensation to 12 persons whose houses were demolished as  part of anti-encroachment  drive along the banks of  Akram Canal in Hyderabad.

Citing a December 1, 2023,  inquiry  report, the board meeting was told that Laghari  had not only confessed her involvement  in tampering with the official record of the beneficiaries with the support of Effandi, but she also returned Rs8  million to the authority.

According  to her statement, Effandi was given Rs20 million from that allegedly embezzled amount. The SIDA had fixed Rs1,134  per square foot compensation for concrete residential, commercial and other types  of structures.

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The semiconcrete structures were supposed to be paid Rs523 and  Rs310, respectively. The job description of  Laghari, according to SIDA’s  spokesman Hizbullah Mangrio, is to ensure implementation of the environmental, human and social safeguards during execution of the authority’s projects.

She has been working  for SIDA since 2009. Effandi, meanwhile, has  been evading to appear before the inquiry committees, the board observed. An official of the authority informed that the list of the beneficiaries was prepared  by a consultant company while the responsibility of Laghari and her subordinates was limited  to  recommending the names of the people who were going to be affected.

However, the inquiry proceedings seem to have steered clear of fixing any responsibility on the consultant. The board further observed that Laghari had previously leveled identical accusations of harassment against other officials of the authority but the inquiries against those complaints also failed to find substance in her charges.  

According to Laghari, Memon had  sent her a sexually insinuating and harassing message when she posted her photograph on SIDA’s official WhatsApp group during her visit to Islamabad with her colleagues  on November  22, 2021.  

She filed harassment complaint over this incident around 25 months later. She also blamed Memon  for intending  to send  her  to  the MD with some  bad motive when she requested Memon to allot her an official vehicle.

She also alleged  that she was deprived of a  laptop, a vehicle and the project allowances. The inquiry committee underlined that she failed  to corroborate her allegations with evidence or testimonies of the colleagues.