LAHORE: Additional Rangers personnel were deployed at the National Accountability Bureau’s Lahore following a friction between the Punjab bureaucracy and the apex anti-corruption organisation over the arrest of former DG LDA Ahad Cheema.
It said that Cheema, by misuse of authority and with criminal intent, awarded a contract of the Ashiana-e-Iqbal project of approximately Rs14 billion to Lahore Casa Developers — a joint-venture which was ineligible for the contract. He is also accused of receiving illegal gratification in the form of a 32-Kanal land valuing Rs30.09 million approximately from the owners of Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd.
The additional security force was deployed on the request of the Chairman NAB Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal.
Opposing stances of the Punjab government and NAB were made public on Friday. An emergency meeting of the Punjab Cabinet was summoned following Cheema’s arrest.
The opposition members in the Punjab Assembly registered their protest over the former DG LDA’s promotion from Grade 19 to Grade 20 and walked out of the assembly after they were not allowed to speak about the matter.
During an emergency meeting of the civil services officers at the Government Officers’ Residences (GOR) in Lahore, a resolution against Cheema’s arrest by the NAB was adopted.
Over 200 civil services officers, in attendance, had demanded a suo motu notice of Cheema’s arrest on February 21, official informed media.
