An assistant commissioner in the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) region and his staff have allegedly received commissions and kickbacks worth millions of rupees for preparing fake award lists for the lands in Thore Valley likely to be submerged due to the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
“The officials, including the assistant commissioner of Diamer, a magistrate (Tehsildar) and two Naib Tehsildars prepared a forged award list of over Rs3 billion for barren lands in Thore Valley and received over Rs100 million in kickbacks,” credible sources told The Express Tribune on Saturday.
According to sources, the list – prepared between July and December 2011 – contained exaggerated costs, after ‘demands’ of officials were met by people, including non-residents of Diamer, who are likely to be displaced due to the construction of the dam.
According to preliminary information, the assistant commissioner advised his subordinates to collect money for him as he wanted to purchase a house in Lahore which cost Rs60 million. The staff, then, ‘cooperated with their boss’ who later transferred the money to a bank account in Lahore, believed to be his father’s. Another source claimed that suspicions arose because of his attempt to transfer the money to his father’s account.
In addition, the assistant commissioner allegedly demanded timber worth millions of rupees as bribe, which was delivered to his house in Lahore.
“The assistant commissioner and six others involved in the scam have been suspended and barred from leaving G-B,” a senior district administration official confirmed to The Express Tribune.
The G-B government constituted a committee, headed by the G-B Home Secretary, Asif Bilal, to investigate the scam, which is believed to be the biggest corruption scandal in the region. As events unfolded, the government stopped disbursing funds to people affected by the Diamer-Bhasha dam.
Meanwhile, a senior official said that posting of senior district government officials in Diamer Valley was under consideration.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012.
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@Farhan Mr. Farhan, your comment is politically, ethically, geographically and historically correct. Appreciated.
Farooq Shaik
Best of luck to our Kashmiri brothers. We, the people of GB, morally support the people of Palestine and Kashmir, alike.
Our ancestors liberated our region from your ancestors, who were supporting the Dogra ruler and since then we are struggling to get our rights within the constitutional ambit of Pakistan. And that is our future.
We are not Kashmiris, have never been Kashmiris and we will never be Kashmiris. Having stated that fact, let me also mention that many of our Kashmiri brothers have settled in GB during the last 50-60 years, and they are GBians now, not Kashmiris.
Corruption is rampant across the world. Let's not use it for political machinations.
Looting the innocent Kashmirs by mainland Pakistanis is normal in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. That is why we are fighting for the independence of Kashmir both from Pakistan and India.
Pakistan khappay
This is ground breaking ceremony of the project: start of the project will be more attractive affair, now a fresh team will take over.