Roshan Sindh project: Sharjeel appears before NAB in fake accounts scam

Sharjeel Inam Memon, former minister of Sindh, on Wednesday appeared before National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in an ongoing investigation in multibillion rupees fake bank accounts scam with regard to Roshan Sindh project.

Talking to media persons after appearing before the NAB investigation team, Memon said the investigators had asked around 15 to 20 questions from him. "I have answered those questions which were in my knowledge," he said, adding he would appear and cooperate with bureau if he was summoned by the bureau again.

He said Roshan Sindh project had nothing to do with fake bank accounts case. The Roshan Sindh project still existed, he said, adding his party had full confidence in the courts.

The Accountability Court on December 2 approved a plea bargain of two accused namely Abdul Sattar and Aslam Pervez in the Roshan Sindh project case. Both Sattar and Pervez had consented to pay around Rs 3 million under the plea bargain.

The court approved Rs 2.5 million plea bargain of Pervez and Rs 600,000 of Abdul Sattar.

Reportedly, solar streetlights were installed on specific roads of certain cities, while the most of the areas were ignored. Originally, 1,000 solar lights were to be installed in districts Malir and West Karachi, 4,000 in Hyderabad division, 3,500 each in Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad, and 4,000 each in Sukkur and Larkana. This project also turned out to be the costliest of them all, with each of the installed solar bulb costing Rs 0.2 million.

The second project, estimated at Rs 3 billion, was meant to install solar lights in rural areas. This project was approved on October 26, 2016 and was supposed to be completed by June 2018. The third project, with a price tag of Rs 1.5 billion, was advertised as the second phase of the earlier scheme to install solar lights in rural areas. Around Rs 750 million have been spent on the project from the beginning of the current year that will be completed by 2020.