Daily Times

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah appeared before a combined investigation team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with its investigation into the Sindh Roshan programme on Thursday.

The chief minister turned up at the NAB Rawalpindi headquarters in response to the corruption watchdog’s subpoena. He was grilled by the investigation team about the programme for over an hour.

Speaking to media after his appearance before the probe team, Murad Ali Shah said he was summoned to explain his role in the project since he was Sindh finance minister when the scheme was launched, adding that he responded to the questions put to him by the investigators. He said he has been given no questionnaire by the probe team at present but if he is given one, he will submit his response. He denied that he appeared before the bureau because of its fear, saying he won’t come under pressure even if he is summoned hundred times. He blamed media for playing up the issue and said that had he not appeared before the anti-graft body to provide his version, media would have speculated that he was about to be arrested.

NAB officials had earlier said that they had recovered Rs 298 million in Sindh Roshan Programme case. The bureau had said in the past that some of the accused, Abdul Sattar Qureshi, Abdul Rashid Chana, Aslam Pervaiz Memon and Baldev had agreed to enter plea bargain.

The Sindh Roshan Programme case is one of the many ones falling under the fake accounts case. It relates to the installation of solar-powered street lights allegedly through illegal contracts in various districts of Sindh. Former chief minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah had also appeared before NAB in the same case and had pleaded not guilty to any corruption charge. It was Qaim Ali Shah’s government that had approved the Sindh Roshan Programme initiative.