LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for allegedly issuing illegal liquor licences to a private hotel in the provincial capital. The anti-graft watchdog has directed the chief minister to appear before its combined investigation team (CIT) at NAB headquarters on August 12, 2020, in person and record his statement. The bureau has accused Buzdar of illegally using powers of Punjab Director General of the Excise and Taxation Hafiz Ziaul Mustafa and issuing permits to the hotel.

On May 24, Mustafa had issued a letter to stop the sale of illegal liquor and take necessary steps in view of the threat of sale of poisonous liquor on the occasion of Eidul Fitr. He highlighted that some unscrupulous elements use clinical alcohol, sedative tablets and juices of rotten fruits to brew liquor which is then sold in bottles of local and foreign brands.

In the past, the letter observes, scores of people have died and many more have gone blind from this locally brewed concoction. "Bootleggers making this toxic moonshine were likely to bring out their product on the festive occasion of Eid to grab the merriment mood of poor people who could not afford a pint of legally sold liquor available from licenced excise shops. Therefore, more vigilance is needed to stop the sale of poisonous liquor during Eid," the letter asserts.

On the other hand, the NAB Lahore has also summoned Maryam Nawaz in its ongoing investigation against the Sharif family for "illegally acquiring" hundreds of acres of land in Raiwind to include it in its Jati Umra residence. The NAB has directed Maryam to appear in person before its CIT at NAB headquarters on August 11, 2020, and record her statement and submit relevant records of the property in question.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020