Conmen forging signatures of Zardari, CM, arrested
Hustlers swindled millions, promised nonexistent jobs.
SSP SIU Farooq Awan addressing the press conference on Saturday on the conmen they had caught. PHOTO: ONLINE
KARACHI:
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the police has arrested three alleged members of a network that was involved in forging the signatures and using the names of former president Asif Ali Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to try and secure government jobs.
Two policemen - assistant sub-inspector Muhammad Aslam and head constable Wazir Muhammad - and a grade-18 government school teacher in Hyderabad, Nazeer Ahmed Mahar, have been arrested, according to SIU chief SSP Farooq Awan on Saturday.
“The network swindled hundreds of citizens for millions by issuing fake appointments in different government departments in Karachi and Hyderabad,” said SSP Awan. The special unit arrested the criminals after raiding a house on a tip-off in Sher Shah.
Awan added that after questioning the arrested criminals, the police have reason to believe that Qazi Mustafa Ismail, who has previously impersonated a retired judge and is said to be an expert in fabricating documents, may also be involved. Despite his involvement in at least 13 cases, Ismail is at large.
The con
During the last six months, members of the swindlers’ ring had approached various government officials with the visiting cards of former president Zardari, which also included his forged signature, and fake recommendations by the Sindh chief minister on his official letterhead.
The documents that they provided asked the relevant officials to entertain the request of the possessor and to provide them with jobs, explained special assistant to the Sindh chief minister Syed Waqar Mehdi.
The members had, however, failed in their scheme as they failed to realise that the provincial government had banned all appointments to government posts. A senior official of the education department explained that the recommendations had perplexed him as they went against the ban imposed by the chief minister himself.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2014.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the police has arrested three alleged members of a network that was involved in forging the signatures and using the names of former president Asif Ali Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to try and secure government jobs.
Two policemen - assistant sub-inspector Muhammad Aslam and head constable Wazir Muhammad - and a grade-18 government school teacher in Hyderabad, Nazeer Ahmed Mahar, have been arrested, according to SIU chief SSP Farooq Awan on Saturday.
“The network swindled hundreds of citizens for millions by issuing fake appointments in different government departments in Karachi and Hyderabad,” said SSP Awan. The special unit arrested the criminals after raiding a house on a tip-off in Sher Shah.
Awan added that after questioning the arrested criminals, the police have reason to believe that Qazi Mustafa Ismail, who has previously impersonated a retired judge and is said to be an expert in fabricating documents, may also be involved. Despite his involvement in at least 13 cases, Ismail is at large.
The con
During the last six months, members of the swindlers’ ring had approached various government officials with the visiting cards of former president Zardari, which also included his forged signature, and fake recommendations by the Sindh chief minister on his official letterhead.
The documents that they provided asked the relevant officials to entertain the request of the possessor and to provide them with jobs, explained special assistant to the Sindh chief minister Syed Waqar Mehdi.
The members had, however, failed in their scheme as they failed to realise that the provincial government had banned all appointments to government posts. A senior official of the education department explained that the recommendations had perplexed him as they went against the ban imposed by the chief minister himself.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2014.