Wait and see: VC’s office refuses to move on corruption complaints

Constable Munawar accused of taking bribes continues in his job.

LAHORE:

The Punjab University (PU) administration appears reluctant to act on an application filed with the office of Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran in which corruption charges have been levelled against a senior university official and a Special Branch constable.

Mughalpura resident Safdar Hussain submitted his application on February 2, 2013, but so far no action has been taken. “Normally, inquiry committees are formed immediately when such an application is filed. This application, however, seems to have been put into cold storage. Many top officials in PU do not even know about it,” said a senior PU official speaking on the condition of anonymity

“I went to PU to find out about the recruitment for grade 5 posts in the middle of 2012. My brother had applied for one. At the VC’s office I met a man, Muhammad Munawar who is know as Munawar Sepoy at the university. He said he was from the Special Branch and was deployed at PU. He told me he was very close to the VC and would get my brother hired.”

Hussain said Munawar demanded Rs150,000 as his ‘fee’. Hussain said he gave him Rs20,000 and the relevant documents. He said Munawar promised to deliver in two months.

Hussain said that five months later he asked for his money back. He said that Munawar told him that he had gotten his brother appointed as an admin officer in the VC’s office. He also told Hussain that he had gotten his [Munawar’s] brother-in-law and several other people hired at the university.

“In November 2012, Munawar told me he had gotten Malik Zaheer hired by PU, who would now issue orders for my brother’s appointment. He demanded another Rs30,000 which I paid.”

Hussain said that a few days ago he again asked for his money back but Munawar said that a newspaper (The Express Tribune) had carried a story against him and told him not to visit him at the university. Hussain said he was told to keep quiet or he would never see his money again.



“When I came to submit this application, Munawar said he would implicate me in some case and send me to jail,” Safdar Hussain wrote in his application.

The application was sent to the VC’s office through the post office.

A copy of the application has also been forwarded to the inspector general of police and one to the anti-corruption director.

A PU official said that after an expose about Munawar several people had come to the VC’s office. “Safdar Hussain came to file an application two days after the story was published but the application wasn’t entertained. All the correspondence addressed to VC is brought on record so we entered this application as well. So far, no action has been taken. The application has been hidden from senior officials.”

According to university records, Malik Zaheer is serving on two posts in PU in violation of the One Man One Seat Policy of the VC.

“Malik Zaheer is working as Additional Registrar II and as Resident Officer II. As Additional Registrar II he is responsible for hiring and maintaining the record of some 8,000 employees and as Resident Officer II he is in-charge of 2,200 acres of PU land. Both these very important slots,” a PU official said.

“I haven’t received any money from Munawar or anybody.  I don’t know about any application filed against me. I wasn’t hired by Munawar either,” Malik Zaheer told The Express Tribune.

Constable Munawar said, “I haven’t threatened anybody or taken any bribes to get someone hired. I don’t know any Safdar Hussain. I didn’t get Malik Zaheer hired”.

PU Registrar Professor Khan Raas Masood refused to comment on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2013.