PESHAWAR:
An accountability court has framed charges against two men who were allegedly involved in a Hajj corruption scandal worth Rs48 million. However, the accused have denied committing the crime.
During the hearing on Thursday, Asim Imam, an accountability court judge, indicted them for cheating over a hundred pilgrims of millions of rupees. He directed five prosecution witnesses to appear in court on April 14 and record their statements against the accused.
On March 7, the National Accountability Bureau Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa filed a reference against Muhammad Usman and Fahad Usman, a father and son who had allegedly cheated over a hundred pilgrims of Rs48 million through their tour operating firm, Karwan-e-Hujaj Private Limited.
Both men were arrested on November 19, 2014 after a complaint was filed against them by a group of pilgrims who had been cheated by the firm. According to the complainants, they had visited the firm’s office at Deans Trade Centre in the provincial capital. Muhammad and Fahad had collected approximately Rs430,000 from each pilgrim.
However, when they returned to their office to collect their visa and passport, both men disappeared. Muhammad and Fahad have been detained at Central Prison Peshawar.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2015.
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