Railway property: NAB recovers 200 tons of stolen rail track

Railway authorities say they were unaware of thefts.

LAHORE:

Rail track is selling in the scrap market, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) discovered during an investigation.

Sale of rail track remains a serious criminal offence since the British era. Pakistan is still using the tracks laid 100 to 150 years ago by the British. Iron merchants risk heavy fines and imprisonment to buy these tracks due to high quality.

NAB sleuths working on another case of misappropriation in Pakistan Railways (PR) got the tip that rail track was being sold in the Misri Shah Iron Market.

NAB informed IG Railway Police about the matter and raided five warehouses. During the raids more than 200 tons of rail track was recovered. Railways authorities said they were unaware of these thefts till NAB informed them.

Railways Police registered FIRs against the accused persons on NAB’s instructions arresting five of them. Railways Track Supply Officer lodged complaint with the Railways Police for misappropriation of railways material.

It was revealed by those arrested that every week about 500 tons of stolen material of railways reached various warehouses across the country.

The persons sending the stolen material were identified as M Yousaf of Jacobabad, M Ismail and M Yaseen, Gul Hassan of Sukkur and Ali Ahmad of Lahore. Bao Sajjad and Rizwan were the main buyers of the materials. An accused Mian Qasim admitted purchase of 174.2 tons of rail material valuing Rs8,706,101 from Yousaf from January 2012 till date. Some credit vouchers showing deposit of money in the account of M Yousaf in Allied Bank, Bank Al-Habib and MCB Bank were also recovered from the warehouse of Mian Qasim.

In another case, NAB summoned former senator Ammar Khan and former IG police Punjab Azhar Hassan Nadeem in connection with the Qasr-e-Zauq scam of Rs480 million.


Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2012.