LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau’s investigation against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif for illegally allotting plots of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has apparently hit snags as none of the beneficiaries is ‘traceable’, according to a report by a private media outlet.
NAB, in September last, had re-launched an investigation into the allotment of plots to 13 people in violation of rules and the laid-down procedure during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif as chief minister in late 1980s.
The inquiry into illegal allotment of plots had been pending with NAB for over a decade. The investigation into the case was initiated in 2000 after Gen Musharraf toppled Sharif’s government but later it was not pursued. As NAB filed three corruption references against Nawaz Sharif and his children – Hassan, Hussain and Maryam – and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar, the bureau found the ‘lost’ file of this (illegal plots) inquiry against Nawaz.
Meanwhile, complying with the NAB notice, Sharif’s younger brother Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif submitted the record of ‘illegal’ construction of a road leading to their (Sharifs) residence in Jati Umra, Raiwind.
The Sharif brothers are accused of causing a loss of about Rs125 million to the national exchequer by illegally constructing the road to their Jati Umra residence. The road was constructed ‘exclusively’ to facilitate the Sharifs as the area mostly had agricultural land at that time. The NAB executive board had already approved filing a reference against Nawaz, Shahbaz and others involved in this (road project) case.
