In death, Shabbir may get justice which eluded him in life

Man accused of ruining his career handcuffed.

ISLAMABAD:

A day after his death, Ghulam Shabbir, a civic agency official, may not have lived to get a promotion but it looks like the man responsible for ruining his career may see justice done.

In Jhang, Shabbir’s native city, while family and friends were preparing to offer his funeral prayers at 9:00am, back in Islamabad, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was snapping handcuffs on the man Shabbir had accused of illegally promoting his junior — a move that had adversely impacted his seniority in government service.

Shabbir had contested the denial of promotion but on Monday when he reached the district courts for a hearing, he became a victim of the bomb blasts.

Though his case will most likely be closed after his death, the man he had accused of wrongdoing was caught by the FIA in a similar case.

The FIA arrested two deputy directors of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) accused of manoeuvring to illegally appoint a retired government employee in the agency.

After their arrest, the CDA  suspended both officers, HRD-II Abdur Razzaq and Finance Deputy Director Malik Arshad.

FIA was investigating Tanvir Hashmi’s illegal appointment since a  few month. Hashmi, a former PTCL employee was appointed as a BPS 18 accounts officer in the CDA on deputation in 2008. He was permanently absorbed in the service in 2010.

However, in 2013 it was found that Hashmi had retired early from PTCL before initiating his case for a deputation in the CDA. To get the job he produced forged documents of his job at PTCL.

“The FIA investigated Razzaq as the main accused in the scam,” said a source in FIA. Following the investigation, the FIA arrested Razzaq when he approached the agency for extension in his pre-arrest bail.

Hashmi is currently on the run and the FIA has yet to recover Rs1.8 million that he took from the CDA as a house-building loan and a government vehicle. The other accused, Malik Arshad, arrested for his role in the case was serving as personal staff officer to CDA Member Finance.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2014.