PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's National Accountability Bureau (NAB)  claimed to have arrested two main accused, in a 2009-10 weapons fraud case adding that that a number of serving and retired police officers were also feared involved in the scam.

A budget officer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwah’s police department, Javed Khan, and contractor Arshad Majeed, were taken into custody for  their alleged involvement misappropriation in procurement of weapons, equipment and vehicles in 2009-10 in violation of government rules, causing huge loss to the state exchequer.

The NAB, KP spokesman Col Waheedullah told Dawn.Com that the NAB after conducting an inquiry in 2009-10 purchase of weapons and vehicles detected gross financial irregularities and misappropriation of state funds worth billions of rupees.

“The findings of the inquiry has also established the involvement of senior police officers both serving and retired,” said a release issued by Deputy Director Media, NAB (KP) Imdadullah

The KP government on the request of the Police Department has approved the purchase of weapons, equipment and vehicles for the police force to enable it to fight terrorism and cope with  the law and order problem in the province for which both the federal and the provincial government has released more than Rs7 billion. Besides purchase of the stiff the training and the recruitment of the extra police force was also the part of the project.

According of the NAB, inquiry into the purchase deal has revealed that “gross violations of procurement rules were committed by the purchase committee in awarding tenders to favourite contractors and most of the procurements were made through a contractor who had no previous experience of supplying such items and for which payments were made in advance.”

Col Waheeduallah said that a number of serving and retired police officers were also feared involved in the scam but in the initial stage, their inquiry had held responsible Contractor Arshad Majeed and Budget Officer of the Police Department Javed Khan for the alleged graft and they had been arrested while further inquiry is continuing.

The NAB KP further says the probe has also led to the fact that the inspection committee failed to carry out tests/trails of weapons, ammunition and equipment according to procedure and obtained clearance reports from agencies concerned which were later on proved to be wrong and the persons concerned have already been made responsible and booked under the law.

To query about the arrest of some others involved, Col Waheeduallh said that their inquiry has established that some high ranking serving and retired police officers were also involved in the case and it was likely that they would also be arrested.

In September 2012, a colonel and three majors were sacked from military service after it emerged that they had accepted kickbacks while inspecting arms purchased by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for the police in 2010.

The new development is likely to lead to more arrests after the NAB action and there seems to be a lot of unrest among the police officers, who were part of the deal at that time.