LAHORE: An officer of the health department, alleged to have been involved in corruption worth millions, has been declared dead in two differences National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references, pointing to a major blunder on the part of the institution.
In the NAB record, the officer of health department got promoted from Grade-17 to Grade-19. NAB was shook when complaints started coming forward. Subsequently, aside from the NAB, Establishment Division, Cabinet Division and the Health Ministry pursued investigation into the matter.
In 1992, Shiekh Akhtar Hussain, who was appointed at Grade-17 in federal health department, was deemed dead in nab reference 40/2001 and 16/3004. In both references a damage of 15 crores to the national exchequer was cited. Shiekh Akhtar Hussain’s accomplices Dr Tanveer Alim, Riaz Hussain Shiekh, Rehmat Allah Baig and Abdusami have completed their sentences from NAB.
Even though Shiekh Akhtar is an official of the health department, after being presenting as being dead by the NAB, he has somehow managed to advance from Grade-17 to Grade-19. His influence is such that despite being in Grade-19, he has been appointed in 3 posts of Grade-20, including director admin of Human Resource and Logistics, director of Medical Devices and director of Quality Assurance and Laboratory Testing.
After receiving complaints, various authorities have carried out investigation to see if Sheikh Akhtar actually passed away or not and if some person is using his name to enjoy the various posts. NAB has tried to cover up the matter and the investigation as well.
Efforts were made to obtain a comment from spokesperson for NAB Karachi Rizwan Soomro, NAB Karachi DG’s staff officer Zeeshan Tabani and Primary Spokesperson Nawazish Ali Khan, but they have abstained from providing any details. Whereas Drug Regulation Authority CEO Dr Aslam Afghani has said that the issue will be probed.