LAHORE: A former official of Punjab Highway Department Salman Ahmad, an absconding co-suspect in a reference of alleged kickbacks in development funds against former chief minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, surrendered before an accountability court on Wednesday.
Salman, a former sub-engineer, appeared before the court along with his counsel and sought a pre-arrest bail.
The court allowed bail to the suspect till March 19 subject to submission of two surety bonds worth of rupees one million each.
Earlier, the counsel of Salman assailed a report of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) declaring his client an absconder.
He said according to the law, a 30-day procedure was required before declaring a suspect as an absconder whereas the NAB declared the petitioner absconder in just 18 days, making the report questionable. He further said the NAB’s claims were inconsistent as the bureau had at times placed the petitioner in Africa and at other times in Dubai. He therefore asked the court to allow the petitioner bail.
The NAB reference alleged that Muhammad Khan Bhatti, being principal secretary to then Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi, maneuvered the award of contracts in favour of blue-eyed contractors and released full payment to the contractors even before the commencement of construction work only to receive kickbacks. The bureau alleged that money from the corruption committed by Bhatti had been transferred into the bank accounts of Pervez Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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