'Railways radiators misappropriated not stolen'

An inquiry into the theft of 11 radiators from railways locomotives worth million of rupees revealed that the radiators were not stolen rather these were misappropriated and placed in another two engines. According to the inquiry report of the departmental committee, on October 21, 2010 seven radiators DPU-20 were stolen from Loco Shed Rawalpindi.
Subsequently, four more radiators were stolen from the same place on December 12, 2010. It said that two criminal cases were registered at Railways Police Station, Rawalpindi, which were later referred to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Six railways employees allegedly involved in these cases were arrested and interrogated by FIA but nothing was recovered from them. It said that the committee comprising
Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer, CDL Shop Rawalpindi Abdul Malik, DPO PR Rawalpindi DEE Rawalpindi and DSP Rawalpindi visited the site and examined all the relevant records thoroughly and statements of the concerned PR staff of Loco Shed and CDL Shop, Rawalpindi. The report said that fan of engine no. 6221 crashed due to which six radiators of the said engine were broken. Similarly, fan foundation of engine No 6202 was also broken as a result of which six radiators became unserviceable.
The concerned staff did not bring these incidents into the notice of the competent authorities and removed the radiator from engine no. 6213 and fitted it in engine no 6221, whereas radiators of 6224 were fitted in engine no. 6202 without seeking prior approval of the authority.
In order to cover up the irregularities, the concerned staff prepared requisition for new radiators without taking approval from high ups only on oral inspection of work manager and also prepared a gate pass to fulfil the formalities but it could not be delivered in Loco Shed.
It further said that railways staff had shown the radiators were stolen whereas the unserviceable and scrap radiators were vanished to save their skins from the clutches of law. The inquiry report said that the radiators could not be stolen because one radiator was about to 283kg and could not be removed without a lifter or crane.
It is pertinent to mention here that 11 Chinese and Thai made radiators of locomotives worth Rs 15 million disappeared from a Loco Shed Rawalpindi last year. The radiators with weight ranging from 184kg to 283kg were composed of 505 percent copper, 40 percent brass and 20 percent steel. The misappropriation of costly radiators caused heavy financial loss to Pakistan Railways, which was already facing financial crises due to out of order locomotives and damaged tracks.