Daily Times

KARACHI: An accused of the National Accountability Bureau in an oil theft case worth 328 million has fled from judicial custody while he was being brought to a private hospital on Thursday for medical treatment.

The information initially spread through the media that an accused of NAB Hussain Bakhsh Narejo has escaped from “Qamarul Islam Hospital and Diagnostic Centre” located in Punjab Colony, Khayaban-e-Jami Defence Housing Authority in the remit of Frere Police Station. An official of NAB said on the condition of anonymity that NAB has not received the report about the accused formally or officially by the jail officials as he was in jail custody but the information of escaping is in the knowledge of NAB officials. “The National Accountability Bureau Karachi, had claimed to have apprehended Hussain Bakhsh Narejo in June in 2016 who was an employee of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) wanted in a case registered with NAB” he further said.

Hussain Buksh Narejo, was arrested during a raid conducted on a tip-off in Hyderabad. While serving as store in-charge at OGDCL, Narejo remained involved in pilferage of diesel amounting to Rs 190 million, which exceeded to over Rs 300 million afterwards further investigation.

Team of NAB and Police has initiated a search for re-arresting the accused to put him behind bars after registration of a case in Frere Police station.

The NAB source while explaining said that the plan to escape might have been planned in jail with the help and convenience of jail staff and for executing the plan he was allowed to be brought to a private hospital from jail, such incidents have happened in the past also. Sources terming Hussain Bux Narejo as a main and key accused in the corruption case because on 3rd February the National Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources while discussing the logistic operations, budget and spending of the OGDCL had directed the National Accountability Bureau to present the latest update on a case related to diesel theft at Tando Alam Field amounting to Rs 328 million against Hussain Bux Narejo and others in the next meeting of the committee.

However when contacted, the spokesperson of NAB Rizwan Soomro he said that there was no official verification of such an incident; and he also said that the accused was not in the custody of NAB but in jail custody. The Deputy Superintendent of Police Sardar Iqbal told Daily Times that the accused was admitted in Hospital for the last 5 days and on Thursday he escaped on finding an opportunity. “There were two police guards of court police on duty as there were six accused who were under treatment but only Hussain Bakhsh Narejo escaped”. Police has recorded the statements of police guard and staff of the hospital to lodge an FIR for further investigation.