Ex-commissioner Rawalpindi arrested in Ring Road scam case

RAWALPINDI: A team of Punjab’s anti-corruption establishment has arrested former Commissioner Rawalpindi Captain (retd) Muhammad Mahmood over his alleged role in the Ring Road scam case, ARY NEWS reported on Wednesday.

The sources privy to details said that besides the arrest of former commissioner Rawalpindi, the anti-corruption department also arrested chairman land acquisition Waseem Tabish.

ACE Director General Gohar Nafees while confirming the arrests during a presser and said that Waseem Tabish purchased properties after the scam while an audit of the assets of Captain (retd) Muhammad Mahmood is currently being investigated.

The anti-corruption official said that they examined 21,000 documents to conclude their investigations and it emerged that the total cost of the project was raised to Rs60 billion after a change in the alignment of the Ring Road project.

“It previously included a cost of Rs 40 billion on construction and Rs16 billion for land acquisition,” he said and added that even approval for change in alignment was not sought from the chief minister Punjab.

He said that private housing societies were given the advantage of the change in the alignment as massive purchasing began in the areas after March 2020.

A fact-finding inquiry committee detected large-scale irregularities in the Ring Road project.

The inquiry committee formed by the Punjab government revealed that former commissioner Muhammad Mehmood made illegal changes in the actual plan of the Rawalpindi Ring Road to benefit some influential persons.

Former LAC Waseem Tabish and former government officer Abdullah were also involved in the scam, said the report.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari has resigned from his public office after an inquiry into the Rawalpindi Ring Road project after his alleged involvement in corrupt practices.

On April 23, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to launch an investigation into the alleged changes into Rawalpindi’s Ring Road project.

PM Imran Khan had taken notice of the alleged changes in the direction of the multi-billion project in violation of the proposed plan in order to benefit private housing societies.