Game-changer: 21 anti-corruption raids conducted in Sukkur in four months

Most of the raids conducted at health, food and revenue departments

SUKKUR: Since springing into action four months ago, anti-corruption teams have conducted 21 raids throughout the Sukkur region, including Sukkur, Khairpur and Ghotki, said the deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Establishment Sukkur, S M Ayaz Rana, while talking to The Express Tribune on Monday.

Most of the raids have been conducted on the health, food and revenue departments, he said. According to him, 38 out of the 44 registered FIRs have been challaned to the special anti-corruption court in Sukkur, while 46 more complaints are under scrutiny. Rana added that, during last three months, they have arrested 21 officials from different departments of the Sindh government.

On Saturday our teams raided three hospitals in Khanpur Mahar, district Ghotki, Pir Jo Goth, district Khairpur, and in Sukkur, said Rana. He said that during the raids in the hospitals, the anti-corruption officials found a huge quantity of expired medicines and have taken into custody record pertaining to the purchase of equipment and medicine.

In the Pir Jo Goth rural health centre, cardiology ward equipment, which was purchased in 2010, was lying in a dirty room.

"Besides this, our team has also taken into custody records of the revenue department, in which massive irregularities have been found," said Rana. According to him, in Nara taluka of Khairpur district, hundreds of acres of land have been transferred illegally in to the names of influential persons. After going through the records and proper verification, cases have been sent to the special court, he added. In this connection we have registered four FIRS, out of which one has been stayed by the court, while three have been challaned to the special court.

Dispelling the perception that the anti-corruption establishment has begun working to stop the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau from conducting raids in Sindh, he said this is not the case. “There is no doubt that earlier we were not active due to certain reasons, including political pressures,” he said. “But since the posting of Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah as the chairperson, we have been working without any pressure.”

Our process is very lengthy and we need proper documentation before going ahead with any case, said Rana. The Sukkur commissioner is the chairperson of our committee, which meets on a regular basis, he said. After thorough investigation, cases are prepared and presented at the meeting and a challan is produced in the special court after the approval of the committee, he added. "Now we are working on merit, without any pressure, therefore our actions will speak louder than our words," he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2015.