The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday arrested senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal in the Narowal Sport City Complex Project (NSCCP) scam.
A NAB official said the bureau had arrested Iqbal and it would produce him before an accountability court today (Tuesday) to obtain his physical remand. The bureau also conducted medical examination of the accused, he said.
The NAB Rawalpindi summoned Iqbal for recording his statement in investigations related to alleged corruption and misappropriation in NSCCP. Sources said that the accused did not submit satisfactory answers to the questionnaire handed over to him as well as questions asked during investigations and then the bureau officials arrested him.
He said that according to NAB investigations, the 44-acre sport city project - worth Rs 3 billion - was executed through Pakistan Sport Board (PSB), adding the Ministry of Sports had been devolved after the 18th constitutional amendment and it was a provincial subject but the federal government allocated fund for the project due to his efforts. He further said that Rs 2.5 billion had been released for the project in one go before the 2018 general election.
He said that the 44-acre sports city is being built just 800 meters away from the Pakistan-India border. The complainant against Iqbal said that there was no need to build this mega project near border and in a small city of Narowal.
The chairman NAB in May 2018 had ordered to verify the complaints against the alleged misappropriation of government funds in the construction of NSCCP.
The construction of NSCCP was started in 2009 on the Narowal-Muridke Road on a 44-acre piece of land.
Talking to reporters prior to appearing before NAB team, Iqbal said the project had been approved by the cabinet, Parliament and Economic Advisory Council. The cost of the project escalated due to delay in completion of the project, he said, adding the NAB had taken notice of NSCCP at time when 50 percent work of the project was complete.
He said that astroturf worth Rs 60 million has yet to be laid. "Rs 2.5 billion have been wasted to fail the project," he said. "Is Narowal is located in India or Israel?" he questioned. He asked why Pakistan Military Academy Kakul is not close to General Headquarters (GHQ).
Iqbal said that BRT Peshawar has become a jock at international level but no one has so far been arrested by NAB in this regard.
The former minister said that projects worth billion of rupees have been completed under his tenure as a minister. "If I earned a single rupee or made any profit then I would be responsible," he said, adding that all this is being done to end public confidence in democracy and democratic system.
He said the present government used NAB after former Director General (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) refused to follow its illegal instructions. He said that Pakistan Army is a force of all Pakistan, all political parties and whole nation.
The PML-N leader said if any one has objection over special court's judgment regarding former president Pervez Musharraf then one should file a review petition in the relevant court.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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