ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) probe into fire incident at Regional Tax Office (RTO) revealed that some junior-level employees of the RTO have been behind the incident with an agenda to discredit senior officials, and an attempt to initiate disciplinary proceedings against them.
Sources in the Finance Division stated that according to the details prepared by the FBR into the incident of fire that erupted in RTO, Faisalabad on May 24, 2020, as well as the local police revealed the fire was actually a deliberate act of arson, designed and perpetrated by some employees.
The probed and investigation was conducted by the RTO authorities Faisalabad and the local police. The responsible for the incident were identified with the help of CCTV footage, and apprehended, and an FIR #.448-20 dated 24 May 2020 was registered, and proceedings in this regard are pending in the anti-terrorism court of Faisalabad.
The preliminary investigation further revealed that there were certain motives of the aforementioned culprits to ignite the fire. An employee was earlier appointed as security supervisor and his "dubious" conduct led to his removal.
In order to regain the position of security supervisor, he wanted to prove other security officials as "inefficient" and "neglectful" of duty. Fire through arson was considered as a handy tool by him. Further, during his posting as security supervisor, alleged theft of confiscated counterfeit cigarettes took place.
An enquiry was being conducted against him for the theft and his accomplices wanted to destroy evidence pertaining to the enquiry. The investigation also revealed that the current management of the RTO Faisalabad effort to run the affairs of the RTO in a disciplined manner was hurting the interests of some elements, who have launched a malicious campaign against the officers of the RTO.
The fire incident was designed to stir some disciplinary proceedings against the senior officials. Additionally, some anonymous complaints were filed against the officers of the RTO Faisalabad in which it was tried to link the fire incident with a deliberate and mala fide attempt on the part of the senior officers of the RTO to destroy the record pertaining to income and sales tax refunds.
The FBR officials informed that no such loss of record had occurred due to the fire incident. Therefore, any suggestion relating the fire to the deliberate destruction of record with bad intention was contrary to the facts on ground. The FBR employees involved in the incident have been suspended and disciplinary proceedings against them are in progress, which would be finalised within due course of time.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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