Bribe offered for govt contract: Gohar

MP K-P Gohar lodges complaint against contractor who offered her a bribe to obtain a govt construction contract.

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentarian from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bushra Gohar, lodged a complaint with the police against a contractor who she claimed offered her a bribe to obtain a lucrative government construction contract in Swabi.

Gohar said that she was approached by contractor Asad Khan, who was arrested on the charge on Tuesday, in the Parliament Lodges.

In her complaint addressed to the DSP parliament lodges, Gohar asked the police to file “a criminal case against the contractor and his enterprise and take appropriate action against similar criminals operating in the parliament lodges.”

Talking to The Express Tribune, Gohar said that the contractor had first contacted her on the intercom and sought a meeting and on being refused had delivered a letter to her door. “It was a letter written by the same contractor who had again sought a meeting and had also offered 25 per cent (or Rs7.5 million approximately) of the profits.”

Gohar said that she had also raised the issue on the floor of the house and had written to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, suggesting that developments funds should not be given to public representatives to avoid controversies.

Asad Khan told the police that he was sent to Gohar by another federal lawmaker, whose name Gohar did not disclose. She did say, however, that the lawmaker asked her to withdraw the complaint against the contractor.

According to sources, the MNA in question is Muhammad Kamran Khan from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Kamran Khan confirmed that he had met Gohar and the contractor “because the contractor was from my area.” He refused to say anything else about the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2010.