Daily Times

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday summoned another Punjab minister in connection with the ongoing investigation into the sugar scam.

Punjab Minister Mohsin Leghari has been directed to appear before NAB Rawalpindi on May 4, according to the sources. The NAB’s combined investigation team will quiz the minister into the scam.

The minister has been asked to appear before the committee along with the sugar subsidy record from 2018 to 2019 and a record regarding export permission has also been sought. Furthermore, the record of subsidies provided to the sugar mills in Punjab have also been sought by the NAB’s team, sources said.

It is to be noted that the NAB has also summoned Punjab Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and former food minister Samiullah Chaudhry on the same day.

Last week, the NAB team visited cane commissioner and chief secretary Punjab’s offices and availed the relevant record in the scandal.

It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government had made public reports of a high-level inquiry into the sugar and wheat crises that had hit the people hard across the country in January 2020.

Under the stewardship of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general Wajid Zia, two teams had carried out a probe into the crises and furnished their reports to the prime minister upon completion for perusal. Prime Minister Khan had gone through the report before it was made public. Prime Minister Imran Khan had also vowed legal action against those responsible for the sugar and wheat price hike after the detailed forensic reports.