Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the principal secretary to former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore on Sunday in connection with a corruption scheme worth Rs1 billion.
The development occurs two days after Elahi was detained by Islamabad police under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) when he was travelling to Zahoor Elahi Road while being escorted by a sizable contingent of Lahore police, in violation of the Lahore High Court’s order.
With the court’s approval, a team went to the Gujranwala Central Jail to question Bhatti and hand deliver the arrest warrants that the NAB director general had issued.
Mahr Azmat Hayat was allegedly appointed as XEN of the Punjab Highways Department Gujrat Division by Bhatti, who then elevated him to the position of Superintending Engineer Gujrat Circle with the help of Elahi and other accused individuals.
In violation of the law, Elahi is accused of “approving 116x Road development schemes under supplementary grants with the ulterior motives of receiving bribe/kickbacks” in collaboration with Bhatti and other accused parties.
Through Hayat, the accused Elahi, Moonis Elahi, and Bhatti awarded contracts for road development work to their chosen contractors.
In order to obtain bribes or kickbacks from the contractors, the accused allegedly made payments to them without any work being completed on the job site.
Through Hayat and Sohail Asghar Awan (Moonis’ personal secretary), Elahi, Moonis, and Bhatti were able to collect the bribe/kickback amounts. He was arrested and taken into custody by NAB.
For physical remand, he will be brought before a court in Lahore.
PTI leader and brothers charged with fraud
Haleem Adil Sheikh and his three brothers, a top leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Sindh, have been detained in a fraud case.
On the basis of a citizen’s complaint, a fraud case was opened at the Memon Goth police station against PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh and his three brothers.
The complainant stated that on November 26, 2019, after receiving Rs 60 million, Aleem, Haleem’s brother, made a promise to give ownership of a plot in a housing society.
He continued by saying that he later discovered that the original land records were nonexistent. The citizen claimed that when he spoke out against the financial fraud, he was held at gunpoint in a farmhouse and threatened.
