Administrator suspends 16 arms licence officials

KARACHI: Karachi Administrator Fazlur Rehman suspended 14 officials of the arms licence branch on charges of corruption and negligence of duties.

Rehman also ordered an inquiry into arms licences issued during the past year.

Arms license district officer (DO) Nuzhat Fatima has been replaced by District Officer Law Agha Zaheerud Din.

City government’s senior officer and district officer general administration Abid Zwabi has been appointed as inquiry officer with instructions to submit the report on licences within 15 days.

The administrator has also instructed the DO Law to seal off all records in the arms branch and hand them over to the inquiry officer along with other required documents and information.

Officials suspended include Office Superintendent Nasir Abbas, Senior Clerk Muhammad Yousuf, Senior Clerk Ansar Ahmed, Senior Clerk Azeem Baig, Junior Clerk Saleem, Junior Clerk Muhammad Shah, Junior Clerk Saeed Ahmed and a personal secretary, Subhan.

The administrator had been receiving incessant complaints from residents in the city about the branch, after which he had issued warnings to the staff. However, when matters did not improve, Rehman decided to suspend the branch’s staff on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2010.