Dr Samad's sympathisers campaigning to hinder efforts against corruption: NAB

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GEO NEWS
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KP Director of Archaeology and Museums Dr Abdul Samad. — Geo News FILE

KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has said that a campaign has been launched by sympathisers of Director Archeology Dr Abdul Samad only to hinder the bureau’s efforts to bring culprits to justice.

"The campaigners are adamant on proving the myth that foreign qualified PhDs are not susceptible to any sort of corruption," the anti-corruption watchdog said in a statement.

"Any illegal appointment of any pay-scale is a corruption and cannot be overlooked as per law of the land and in this regard recent referral of several cases of Class-4 appointments to NAB KP for investigation by Honorable Peshawar High Court proves that violation of state's rules and procedures is a serious crime."

It said the accused "has not only made several illegal appointments but also involved in misappropriation of antiques, sculptures and other valuables of antiquity, which is being investigated by a team of highly qualified experts associated with the NAB."

The statement further mentioned that the accused remained overall in-charge of the Archeology Department for the last five years, adding that during course of investigations, it surfaced that some of the antiques worth billions of dollars in museums were either missing or not as per description available in record which raises serious questions concerning their genuineness.

"The accused person has committed gross violation of laws in issuing NOCs of important archeological sites causing serious damage to national heritage. Similarly, the accused is allegedly involved in another case of corruption at Heritage Trail being investigated by the NAB. The initial cost of the project was Rs200 million which was drastically increased to Rs714 million with ulterior motives," the anti-graft body contended in its statement.

"It is worth mentioning here that NAB being apex anti-corruption agency deals with white-collar crime and it is a crime generally committed by person of high respectability and social status," the statement read.

The NAB said it not only welcomes any constructive criticism to reform and improve its efforts in fight against corruption, but also expects support in fight against corruption.

The anti-corruption watchdog said it makes all-out efforts to proceed with the cases without harming the self-respect and self-esteem of all accused persons.