NAB conducts a raid in SID, seizes advertisement records

Nasir Shah’s close-relatives reluctant to obey information advisor, secy’s orders

KARACHI: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday conducted a raid at the office of the Sindh information department (SID) in Karachi and seized records relating to advertisements.

The raid conducted by NAB at SID and archives department is likely to pave ways what the sources believed ‘for new ways for corruption and commission’ in the department.

The NAB is investigating a case against Sharjeel Inam Memon, ex-minister for Sindh Information. The team also questioned the four employees at the office.

NAB says contracts and advertisements were given to preferred people and news outlets. It has taken records relating to those advertisements in newspapers, TV channels, radio stations and other media outlets into its custody.

There are currently four inquiries being investigated by the accountability watchdog relating to advertisements by the information department. One is about corruption during former information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon’s tenure and another relates to fake advertisements.

Sharjeel Memon and several others are behind the bars following alleged corruption worth billions of rupees in SID.

The team also seized records that were burnt during the Sindh Secretariat fire in February this year. Two sets of records are kept, one at the secretariat and the other at the information department.

The sources said, the NAB authorities had forwarded multiple letters to Secretary Information few days ago and Archives Abdul Rasheed Solangi to handover the advertisement records of years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 to the NAB.

The secretary had repeatedly directed Director Advertisement Syed Zulfikar Shah and Deputy Director Syed Azeem Shah to furnish the required documents and send them to NAB for further investigation however both the Shahs, who are close-relatives of PPP’s Nasir Hussain Shah, did not listen to the orders of their boss compelling the NAB authorities to raid the offices and take away the records.

According to the sources, this advertisement wing of the SID and archives department is like a hotspot for the powerful corrupt officials of Sindh government who are issuing advertisement to dozens of dummy newspapers in return of 50 percent commission on daily basis.

The sources further claimed that both director and deputy director are close-relatives of former information minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and they are still enjoying the same positions and refusing to honour the orders of the secretary following strong political backing.

Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who recently took over as Advisor to Chief Minister on Information and Archives, has given clear instructions to the official mainly to Director Advertisement Syed Zulfikar Shah and Deputy Director Syed Azeem Shah that no corrupt practices would be tolerated at any cost.

On the complaints against these director and deputy director, Murtaza Wahab also conducted a raid at the advertisement wing and found illegal activities. He warned the officials to mend their ways but of no avail.

“No arrest has been made so far”, the sources added.

 

 

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