Sheikh Rasheed submits ‘evidence’ in LNG scam to NAB

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RAWALPINDI: Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Friday said he had submitted ‘evidence’ of wrong doing by members of the previous government to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scandal.

NAB Rawalpindi had summoned the railway minister on Friday in connection with the case.

Speaking to the media after appearing before the accountability watchdog, Rasheed added he had earlier submitted the evidence to the apex court.

NAB summons Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in LNG contract case

Criticising the previous PML-N-led government, he claimed that due to corrupt practices, there has been an increase in gas and electricity prices.

In 2018, the anti-graft body initiated a probe against former premiers Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Nawaz Sharif over alleged misuse of authority.

Abbasi and few others had been accused of illegally awarding LNG terminal contract for a period of 15-year to a company of their liking in violation of defined rules, ‘thus inflicting billions of rupees losses to the national kitty’.

The inquiry into the LNG contract case had been initiated almost one-and-a-half year after the NAB Karachi office closed a similar inquiry against Abbasi for his alleged role in the award of a multi-billion rupee contract for the import and distribution of LNG.

The PML-N government in its tenure from 2013-2018 completed two LNG terminals, while just days before completion of its term, on May 31, it stopped the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) from going ahead with bidding for the allocation of a site for constructing a third terminal.