UMERKOT, Aug 28: Anti-Corruption Establishment sleuths arrested on Wednesday former taluka municipal officer (TMO) of Samaro and a clerk in the taluka’s accounts department on charges of misappropriating Rs45 million development funds.

Sindh ACE Director Ghulam Hussain Memon told Dawn over the phone that the establishment launched an inquiry and took action against the officials after receiving a complaint from a clerk in the TMA that former TMO Nizmauddin Shahani had withdrawn Rs7 million on the pretext of carrying out repair of the TMA office but embezzled the entire amount.

He said the clerk Siraj Ahmed informed him that Shahani had drawn the huge cash from the TMA’s account in Sindh Bank’s Kunri branch through his clerk Dilip Kumar and other officers concerned who signed the cheques.

He said that an FIR had been registered against the accused and co-accused.

In the course of the inquiry and his suspension, the TMO drew further Rs45 million from the TMA’s account and deposited it in the account of his friend Aslam Solangi in the National Bank of Pakistan’s Samaro branch during the period between Aug 15, 2011 and Jan 16 2013, and misappropriated the huge amount, said the ACE director.

He said the investigation was under way and it would also scrutinise the role of other officers concerned, staff at the banks and audit officer in the funds misappropriation. Inspector Saalim Rind was investigating the case, he added.

He said that another inquiry had been ordered by the chief secretary of Sindh into misappropriation of funds for 85 development schemes of Samaro taluka. ACE Deputy Director for Mirpurkhas had been instructed to take action, he said.

Our Mirpurkhas correspondent adds: A team of ACE officials headed by Saalim Rind nabbed former TMO of Samaro, Nizamuddin Shahani, and clerk Dilip Kumar from a bank branch on the M.A. Jinnah Road here on Wednesday.

Mr Rind told Dawn the accused would be produced in a special ACE court in Hyderabad on Thursday morning. The inquiry against the accused was ordered after reports on embezzlement of TMA funds were published in different newspapers, he said.

He said that other co-accused involved in the misappropriation of funds would also be arrested soon.