Asad Kharal—the journey from a Kebab vendor to Sindh Government’s frontman

LARKANA: Asad Kharal, an otherwise nobody has been making headlines for the past one week. He was arrested last week by the Police, days after he escaped with the helps of his supporters when he was being questioned by the Rangers.

In the next few days one saw the Sindh government spring to action. The Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in a meeting with Corps Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar on Friday expressed dissatisfaction over the Rangers exceeding powers in Sindh. The two-hour long meeting held in the CM House discussed the Larkana incident, Rangers stay in Sindh and arrest of Asad Kharal in detail, sources told Geo News.

 Who is Asad Kharal and when did he become so influential? Geo News dug deep.

His real name is Muhammad Ali and he was born to Ghulam Mustafa at a poor household at Goth Puranabad, a village in Larkana district. He spent most of his teenage years selling kebabs at kiosk in Pakistan Chowk at Larkana.

In 2008 a favour from an influential personality landed him a job as a cleaner in Larkana Municipal Corporation. A transfer sent him to Baqrani Town Committee and he was promoted to the position of a junior clerk. To this day he draws a salary from the department without reporting for duty.

When the Pakistan People’s Party came into power the same year he became  close to the now Sindh Interior Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal and his brother Tariq Siyal.

Asad Kharal had now become a frontman for the two brothers. Under his name several construction companies were established, sources confirmed. These companies were give government construction contraction worth billions of rupees.

The present government allotted most contracts for the Rs90 billion approved for the Larkana Development Package to construction companies owned by Asad Kharal. None of these contracts have been completed physically. But on paper they are shown as completed projects.

Between 2008 till 2013 this illgotten money was transferred to top PPP leadership in Dubai. And the transfers continue to this day, sources confirmed.

His close connection to the interior minister has given him powers to transfer police officers, get them hired or fired, or suspended.

His network has spread to illegal occupation of land.

Asad Kharal has been rewarded for his work. He owns a farmhouse in Larkana, land worth billions of rupees, and two bungalows- one in Larakana and another in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority.

Asad Kharal has gotten very close to the PPP. He also working as frontman for Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur. Despite that very few even in the PPP know his real name.

 

 

 Note: An earlier version of this story stated that Kharal had been arrested by the Rangers, the error is regretted.