Ps Wahcantt Prompt Action, Accused of raping widow arrested in few hours.
Accused Ismail raped me by tricking me into marriage, plaintiff
PS Wahcantt immediately registered a case at the request of the victim and arrested the accused.
Incidents of abuse, violence, and harassment of women and children are intolerable, says CPO Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi Police is ensuring a zero-tolerance policy regarding the abuse of women and children. CPO Rawalpindi Sajid Kayani
• Report claims party under-reported Rs312m funds between 2009 and 2013
• Fawad calls report ‘inaccurate’, claims certain transactions counted twice
• PTI demands public scrutiny, open hearing of ‘identical’ cases against itself, PPP, and PML-N
ISLAMABAD: A damning report compiled by the scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has confirmed that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) received funding from foreign nationals and companies, under-reported funds, and concealed dozens of its bank accounts.
The report, also mentions a refusal by the party to divulge details of large transactions and the panel’s helplessness to get details of PTI’s foreign accounts and the funds collected abroad.
According to the report, the party under-reported an amount of Rs312 million over a four-year period, between FY2009-10 and FY2012-13. Year-wise details show that an amount of over Rs145m was under-reported in FY2012-13 alone.
“A perusal of the chartered accountant’s opinion on the accounts of PTI for this period does not indicate any deviation from the reporting principles and standards,” the report points out.
It also calls into question the certificate signed by PTI chairman Imran Khan, submitted along with the details of PTI’s audited accounts.
The report also refers to the controversy over allowing four PTI employees to receive donations in their personal accounts but says it was out of the scope of its work to probe their accounts.
The report emerged as the ECP resumed hearing of the foreign funding case against PTI on Tuesday after a gap of around nine months.
The case has been pending since Nov 14, 2014. Since then, the ECP and the Scrutiny Committee have heard the case over 150 times, with PTI seeking adjournment on 54 occasions.
The scrutiny committee was formed in March 2018 to completely scrutinize PTI accounts, but it took almost four years to present its report to the ECP, which was submitted in Dec 2021.
The last hearing took place on April 6, 2021, after which the ECP had directed the petitioner, PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar, to employ two auditors for the perusal of documents submitted by PTI.
A PTI request to keep the scrutiny committee report secret was turned down by ECP, and the next hearing in this matter will be held on Jan 18.
Following Tuesday’s proceedings at ECP, government ministers came out in support of the ruling party. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry termed the report “inaccurate” and called for a public comparison of all the parties’ foreign funding so people knew where they all stood.
He claimed that there were “two relevant transactions of Rs150m and Rs160m, which had been duplicated and therefore counted twice by the committee”. Referring to the matter of the underreported funds, Fawad said a transaction of Rs160m was counted twice because the party had received the money in its central account and transferred it to another.
“In the same way, Rs150m transferred from the center to the provinces from a PTI subsidiary was also counted twice.” He said these facts would be laid before the ECP during arguments in the case.
The minister said the report showed that the PTI had 26 accounts out of which eight were inactive.
“Out of the remaining 18 accounts, eight are functional and have transactions and also show funds coming in,” he added.
He said that 10 of the accounts in question did not actually belong to the PTI, while six were subsidiary accounts, while the party has distanced itself from the remaining four.
The minister claimed that it was now evident that there was “no question of foreign funding”, adding that Mr. Khan had always given a record of every single penny and his party had done the same.
The minister called on the election commission to also conduct a scrutiny of the accounts of the two other major political parties — the PPP and the PML-N. “It is important to have a comparison with the accounts of Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N as well as the PPP,” he added.
“People give $10, $25, $55 or $100,” he said, adding that people trusted Imran Khan ever since he had campaigned for and built the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.
State Minister for Information Farrukh Habib also said that scrutiny committees formed in PPP and PML-N cases were identical to the body constituted to audit the bank accounts of the ruling party.
Flanked by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar and PTI leader Aamir Mehmood Kiani, he said the reports of the scrutiny committees for the bank accounts of the PPP and PMLN had been completed and they should also be ordered to submit these reports before the national election watchdog at the earliest.
The state minister was of the view that cases of the PTI, PML-N, and PPP were of a similar nature, adding that the scrutiny committees were formed in light of the Supreme Court’s decision which said that all parties’ bank accounts would be scrutinized in accordance with the law and without discrimination.
“We have no objection if the ECP hears all three parties’ cases in open court as PTI fully believes in transparency,” he added.
Four soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in an exchange of fire with terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Friday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted an IBO on the reported presence of terrorists in the area.
During the raid, an intense exchange of fire ensued between the terrorists and the troops, as a result of which four soldiers embraced martyrdom. The martyred soldiers were identified as Havaldar Munawar, Sepoy Zaka Ullah, Sepoy Farhan and Sepoy Sheraz.
Meanwhile, security forces conducted another operation in the Tank area following reports of terrorists’ presence in the vicinity.
During the operation, two terrorists were killed, who were later identified as Shahzeb alias Zakir and Daniyal. The forces also recovered weapons during the raid.
“These terrorists were involved in multiple terror activities including attacks against security forces, targeted killings and kidnapping for ransom,” the ISPR statement said.
Earlier on December 24, two soldiers were martyred when terrorists attacked a security forces check post in Balochistan’s Kech district.
The ISPR had said a follow-up operation was in progress in the area to search for the terrorists when the attack took place.
Similarly, on December 14, a member of the security forces was martyred when terrorists attacked a post close to the Pak-Iran border in Balochistan.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Friday insisted that Pakistan was heading in the “right direction” and that the country’s economy will be “far better” by August 2022.
Speaking to reporters in Lahore, Chaudhry said a phase was being commenced in Pakistan in which the social protection programs will take effect, paving the way for the improvement of the overall economic situation of the country.
He informed that the PTI-led government had to return $55 billion in its next two years in debt payment, adding that a sum of $32bn had already been paid under debts in the last three years.
“We are paying the price for the legacy left by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif,” the minister said, in reference to the last two governments of the PPP and PML-N.
Dispelling the impression given by the opposition about the country failing at the economic front, Chaudhry said Shehbaz Sharif and other opposition leaders should not worry about the country as “it is heading in the right direction, and people are witnessing it”.
The minister stressed that Pakistan’s politics, defense, and economy were all quite stable.
He said the national economy was growing at five percent and it will further stabilize in time to come.
“Also, take an example of the coronavirus pandemic as such calamities occur once in 100 years, and Pakistan’s strategy to tackle it is being praised worldwide,” he added.
Chaudhry, while continuing with his criticism of rival parties, said the opposition leaders were all panicked after the government expressed its intent to bring Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan.
“We want the Lahore High Court to move on his case and Nawaz should be brought back at the earliest,” he said.
He added that the government also wanted that cases involving Shehbaz Sharif should be taken up on a day-to-day basis.
The minister stonewalled a query when asked about the political implications of the “most important” appointment the prime minister was set to make in 2022 and wrapped his answer by succinctly saying “for God’s sake”.
The minister, while highlighting the importance of the film and drama industry, rued that the country had not been able to utilize the potential of the vital industry for its image-building.
“Our stories have to be told through films and the way we ended our film industry was really unfortunate. We will now revive the medium to tell the story of Pakistan to the world.”
Chaudhry said he was pleased that the dollar depreciated against the rupee after the introduction of the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 in the National Assembly on Thursday.
“This inflation cycle will break in three to four months, while the prices of vegetables will also decline in a couple of months,” he added.
The information minister said Pakistan would have gone bankrupt had Imran not been the prime minister of the country.
“If Pakistan is floating today, it’s because of Imran Khan and the PTI’s economic team,” claimed the minister.
He said the system through which Pakistan had been governed for the past several years was no more in practice. “Now, for the first time, a people-centric government is working in Pakistan”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday categorically said that the government will not spare those who resort to violence in the name of Islam or the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).
The premier made the comments while addressing a condolence reference for Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara, who was lynched to death by a mob in Sialkot last week, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad.
Members of the federal cabinet also attended the event, which was held in solidarity with Kumara’s family and the Sri Lankan nation and government. The premier also laid a floral wreath on a portrait of Kumara.
A certificate of appreciation was also awarded to Malik Adnan — Kumara’s colleague who had tried to save his life. PM Imran had taken notice of the brave attempt and lauded Adnan’s “moral courage and bravery” on Sunday. He had also announced that Adnan would be honored with the Tamgha-i-Shujaat.
The event began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. A short documentary promoting religious harmony among all faiths was also played.
Addressing the somber event, the premier lauded Adnan’s bravery and said that it was heartening to see that a person tried to save another by risking his own life.
“Role models are important in the country because people follow them,” he said, adding that “moral power is greater than physical power”.
“I am sure our youth will remember the way Malik Adnan stood up against those beasts,” he said.
The premier also lamented the fact that people were killing others in the name of religion. “Prophet (PBUH) preached peace […] he taught us peace and justice,” he said. Justice is meted out in a humane society, but there is no rule of law in a society of animals, he said.
The premier said that people were killing others in the name of religion. “If someone accuses a person of blasphemy, the victim rots in jail and no lawyer or authority comes to his defense to see what actually transpired.
“Everyone is afraid of it. In fact, lawyers do not come forward and judges also refuse to listen to the cases.”
Commenting on the Dec 2014 attack on the Army Public School Peshawar, PM Imran said that the horrific incident had united the nation which had resolved to end terrorism. “After the Sialkot incident, the whole nation has decided that we will not let such a thing happen again.”
PM Imran said that the business community in Sialkot had informed him that they had collected $0.1 million for Kumara and that his family would continue to receive his monthly salary.
The prime minister said that he had established the Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Authority so that the entire nation could follow in the footsteps of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and so that the ulema could spread his teachings.
“But we are heading in a different direction,” he said as he called on the nation to read up on the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
“Our country is the only one that was built in the name of Islam. But this incident has brought us embarrassment,” he said, adding that he received many messages from those living abroad.
“People who are based overseas do not know what Islam is, and they distance themselves from the religion after seeing such incidents take place.”
PM Imran also said that the Sialkot tragedy was highlighted in India in an effort to defame Pakistan. “Their TV programs called this incident a routine occurrence in Pakistan, which is unjust,” he said, adding that he would not allow such incidents to happen as long as he was alive.
Concluding his speech, the premier once again paid tribute to Adnan. “It was painful to see what the mob did [to Kumara]. But seeing Adnan restored our faith in humanity.”
He added that Adnan would be given the Tamgha-i-Shujaat on March 23.
A mob comprising hundreds of protestors, including the employees of the factory Kumara was the manager of, had tortured him to death on Friday and later burnt his body over blasphemy allegations.
A first information report was registered against 900 workers of Rajco Industries on the application of Uggoki Station House Officer (SHO) Armaghan Maqt under Sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The incident was followed by national outrage across the country, which led to calls and reassurances for retribution and justice from government officials. Kumara’s remains were repatriated to Sri Lanka on Monday with state honors.
In videos of the incident shared on social media, Malik Adnan was seen trying to calm the mob down and later shielded Kumara when the matter escalated, but in vain. The workers overpowered Adnan and dragged the Sri Lankan national out on the road.
National News Portal. 