NAB recovers over Rs2bn in PR sale of scrap scam

[Muhammad Omar]

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has claimed to have recovered over Rs2 billion from a controversial contract of Pakistan Railways about the sale of scrap which caused a huge loss to national exchequer.

“NAB recovered the amount from railway contracts and deposited it into the national kitty,” a spokesperson for the bureau said on Monday.

Some PR officials and contractors had been taken into custody and they were being tried in an accountability court, the spokesperson said, adding the contractors had confessed that they had purchased the scrap worth billions of rupees at a low price and assured the court that they would pay according to its market value.

The spokesperson said NAB had got evaluated the market price of the scrap and the contractors agreed to make the payment accordingly. They had also purchased the remaining scarp at the market rate of Rs1.47bn and paid the tax of Rs383 million.

“The court had allowed the contractors to pay the amount and at the time of their release from the jail they paid Rs80 million to NAB and Rs500 million to Pakistan Railways,” he said.

Sources said that one of the accused, former secretary of PR Samiul Haq Khilji, was out of the country and, therefore, Interpol’s help would be sought for his arrest.

PR General Manager Operations Saeed Akhtar and Chief Controller Stores Khalid Mohiuddin were in NAB’s custody.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015