Daily Times

The Sindh High Court on Monday ordered the arrest of Local Government Secretary Roshan Ali Sheikh and nine others in an illegal land allotment case.

Roshan Sheikh and nine others accused in the case had filed bail pleas which were rejected as the high court ordered their immediate arrest. During the hearing, the presiding judge said that the accused were involved in the illegal land allotment and have misused their powers.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials arrested former Karachi administrator Fazl-ur-Rehman and Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) Muhammad Naseem from premises of the courtroom.

The NAB prosecutor informed the high court that reference had already filed against Sindh local government secretary. Others named in the case are Fazl-ur-Rehman, Wasim, Nadeem Qadir Khokhar and Sabiha Islam.

The judge refused to further conduct proceedings on the bail petitions filed by the accused, saying that he had already rejected them and directed the authorities to arrest the LG secretary.

Following the orders, a five-member team of NAB arrived at court and detained Roshan Sheikh, who avoided the arrest for four hours by not coming out of the courtroom.

Roshan Sheikh had requested the court to delay his NAB custody in the case for seven days.

Roshan Sheikh and others were accused of allotting 265-acres of land illegally to small cottage industries in Landhi. According to the anti-graft bureau, Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Board of Revenue officials were also responsible for the scam.