Metropolitan Corporation PRO held on bribery charges

RAWALPINDI: Anti-Corruption Department has arrested the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi on charges of taking bribe from a government contractor.

According to details, government contractor Amir Mehboob – retired from Pakistan Air Force – had filed a case against the arrested PRO Sheikh Ijaz Ahmed in May 2019.

According to Amir Mehboob, the accused Sheikh Ijaz Ahmed, during his appointment as Town Officer Regulation, received Rs. 453,000 as a bribe for anti-dengue campaign contract. However, the accused did not provide the required documents for the contract.          

In this regard, Amir Mehboob demanded the refund of his payment. The accused later provided Amir Mehboob a check of National Bank City Branch dated January 3, 2018, which was bounced on the due date.

Anti-Corruption registered the case under Section 5/2/47 of the Anti-Corruption Act. However, the accused later transferred to PRO Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi on the political recommendation. Later, the department on a tip-off arrested him during a raid.

Earlier on July 11, the civil servants working in different government departments had accused Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of harassment, the charges vehemently denied by the concerned authorities.

The ACE, Rawalpindi had registered FIRs against senior-most officers of grades 17, 18 and 19 while several FIRs were registered against the lower staff of different departments under the control of local administration only in the past two months.