el ahI’s PRIncIPal secRetaRy In coRRuPtIon scanDal oveR bRIbe allegatIons

LAHORE

M o n i to R i n g R e p o R t tH E anti-corruption establishment (ACE) in Punjab registered a case against Muhammad Khan Bhatti, principal secretary to former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, on allegations of bribery

The charge sheet alleges that Bhatti received more than Rs460 million in bribes from officials of the Punjab Highway Department in exchange for favourable

four booked in tanda Dam boat sinking case

KOHAt posts The agency has also nominated Monis Elahi, Elahi s son, and Ali Afzal Sahi, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) minister of the communication and works department under Elahi, in the case Unconfirmed reports suggest the agency has also arrested a sub-divisional officer (SDO) in the highway department, Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the case and formed teams for the arrest of Bhatti, who it claims is the prime suspect Meanwhile Elahi’s driver and bodyguard have been arrested for allegedly

The First Information Report (FIR) of boat tragedy at Kohat’s Tanda Dam has been registered in which the boat owner and three officials of the irrigation department have been nominated police said on Monday According to the FIR, the accident occurred due to overloading of the boat following which 10 children died on Sunday THe boat carrying 25-30 passengers, including madrassa students, as well as the boatman, capsized in Tanda Dam

The authorities managed to rescue six of the students, who were being treated at DHQ Hospital Kohat The incident has created a mourning atmosphere in the houses of victims

Meanwhile, a collective Namaz e Janaza (funeral prayer) of eleven children, who lost their lives in the Tanda Dam boat capsize incident was offered in Kohat on Monday, attended by thousands of people from different walks of life

The funeral prayer was attended by Station Commander, Moeen ud Din, DIG Police, Ali Khattak, DPO Kohat Abdur Rauf Qaisarai, Commissioner Kohat government officers and thousands of people from all walks of life

Participants of the funeral offered a collective Fateha and prayed for a high place in heaven for the departed souls of the children Meanwhile, an operation was underway at Tanda Dam to recover bodies of the remaining children, rescue workers said and added that all the ill-fated children belonged to the same village At least 11 children had died the other day when a boat they were onboard capsized in Tanda Dam Kohat The FIR of the incident has been registered against the officers of Irrigation Department and boat operator at Riaz Shaheed police station, Kohat

President summons joint sitting of Parliament on februar y 8

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

President Dr Arif Alvi has summoned Joint Session of the Parliament at 3 00 p m on February 8 (Wednesday) The Parliament’s Joint Session has been summoned under Articles 48(1) and 54 (1) of the Constitution a press release issued by the President’s Media Wing here on Monday said carrying liquor bottles in Islamabad, and an investigation into potential monetary transactions by two employees of the Punjab House is underway B h a t t i w a s a B P S - 7 c l e r k i n t h e

A g r i c u l t u r e D e p a r t m e n t i n 1 9 9 7 w h e n E l a h i , t h e n s p e a k e r o f t h e P u n j a b Assembly, inducted him into the provincial parliament in BPS-11

Thanks to Chaudhry’s patronage who became the Punjab chief minister in 2002, Bhatti achieved BPS-20 in less than a decade, an unprecedented rise seen by any civil servant, and was appointed special secretary in the Chief Minister s Secretariat, a post specially created to accommodate him In 2008, he was promoted to BPS-21 and posted as the assembly secretary where he served until August of last year when Elahi, who by the time had returned as chief minister, appointed him as his principal secretary

The appointment, according to a court petition, was made in violation of the law which stipulated that an officer of one service cadre cannot be posted in another

LHC orders L al Haveli ’s de -sealing

RAWALPINDI S ta f f R e p o R t

The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Monday ordered the de-sealing of Lal Havelli, which had been closed down by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB)in the early morning

LHC Justice Waqas Rauf Mirza, while hearing an application filed by the former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, ordered the desealing of Lal haveli, which belonged to the Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed

The court asked the ETPB to decide the rest of the property land after hearing the petitioner within 15 days Earlier in the day, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed applied before the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench after the ETPB had sealed four shops on Haveli’s ground floor and residential part of the building Earlier Awami Muslim

League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad moved an application before the Lahore High Court s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench against the sealing of the Lal Haveli by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Advocate Sardar Raziq Khan, on behalf of the AML chief, while submitting the plea urged the court to hold an urgent hearing which was accepted According to ETPB Deputy Commissioner Asif Khan, two units of the Lal Haveli and five adjoining units were sealed after teams of the board along with the Federal Investigation Agency

(FIA) arrived at the spot early morning today Khan said Rashid’s ownership of these Lal Haveli units had been cancelled over illegal occupation of land Several notices had also been issued to Rashid and his brother in this regard, he added Taking to Twitter, the former minister has claimed that Lal Haveli was his “personal property” and a “central secretariat for public service He said he didn t receive a notice prior to the action, adding sealing Lal Haveli was an act of fascism and terrorism

“If it is proven that Lal Haveli is not our personal property, we should be declared national criminals, Rashid said claiming that the government took this step after it failed to find anything against him

The former federal minister went on to say that a case pertaining to the ownership of the Lal Haveli was already fixed for hearing on February 15