The Establishment Division has sought a reparability report of DIGP Hazara, Dr Muhammad Suleman from the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) so that his services may be put at the disposal of Federal Investigations Agency (FIA). The move came after a formal requisition by the Director General of FIA, Waseem Ahmed, for transfer of services of three officers from Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) to FIA earlier this month.
These include DIG Hazara Dr Muhammad Suleman, DIG Akram Naeem Bharoka, presently posted in Punjab, and DIG Ghulam Rasool Domki, posted in Balochistan. One of these officers would be accommodated against vacant posts of Director FIA at Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar. According to sources, Interior Minister has approved summary for the appointment of Dr Suleman to head the investigation agency in the troubled province.
According to FPSC rules, an under-inquiry officer can not be promoted, transferred or allowed on an ex-Pakistan leave as it may affect the investigation process. Whereas, despite being nominated in arms purchase scam inquiry initially by FIA and then by NAB, Dr Suleman has already been promoted to BPS 20. Now his selection for Director KP FIA is raising many eyebrows.
Dr Suleman was DIG Headquarters in KP Police when multi-billion-rupee arms purchase scam was unearthed which is now being probed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB). According to NAB sources, there were 32 officials involved in procurement including Naveed, former IGP, KP and Dr Suleman, then DIG Headquarters in KP Police.
NAB's provincial chief Musadiq Abbasi took some steps to acquire relevant records as police top brass was reluctant to provide details. Earlier, the inquiry committee, headed by provincial Finance Secretary Sahibzada Saeed, reported malpractices in procurement of weapons and ammunition during 2008-09 and 2009-10.
The Police Department was given Rs 6.923 billion for purchase of weapons under the Prime Minister's package to strengthen its ability to deal with the Malakand situation. According to the report, the department had placed 12 advertisements in newspapers from July 2008 to June 2010 for purchase of arms worth 5.7 billion rupees. Purchase of 4.39 billion rupees from a single firm, Majeed & Sons, was approved.
The committee also found that purchases worth 1.12 billion rupees were made without placing any advertisement, in violation of the rules of wide publicity and transparency and provisions of repeat orders as per Public Procurement Rules. The inquiry committee also reported a departure from Procurement Rules, 2003, in terms of ignoring the lowest rates on "flimsy grounds, on occasions," and quoted several instances to substantiate its case.
It also pointed out that the Police Department had purchased explosive detectors of a brand which was being internationally criticised for being poor in quality. Significantly, the committee said that the pre-qualification record showed that most of the competing firms were apparently members of the same family. Based on this aspect, it was concluded that sister firms, having ownership of the same family, had participated. Thus, the entire environment of competition seemed to have been largely controlled by a single family, the report concluded.
The committee recommended formation of another body to probe the matter further and fix responsibility, approach the Auditor General of Pakistan to constitute an audit team, or turn over the case to the National Accountability Bureau. The chief minister, however, opted to constitute another committee, headed by Secretary, Finance KP, Sahibzada Saeed. That committee, headed by Additional IGP Wadood Shah was probing the matter when NAB stepped in, insiders said. Officials probing the matter and those involved in the scam could not be reached for comment. Not a single officer has so far been suspended, or even warned, in the arms purchase scam.
Comments
Comments are closed.