KARACHI, July 6: The Edhi Foundation closed down its Larkana Centre on Wednesday evening over the failure of police to arrest a former in charge of Larkana Centre, accused of embezzlement of funds. Addressing a press conference here at Karachi Press Club, Abdul Sattar Edhi said that in charge of their Larkana Centre Saleem Arine embezzled the funds which were revived by the Foundation in form of donations. When the misappropriation was detected by the Foundation, Saleem confessed to the crime and promised to return the amount around Rs0.6 million.

However, he failed to honour his commitment. On July 1, an FIR under sections 420 and 408 was lodged against Saleem in Larkana.

Mr Edhi said that instead of arresting the accused, police advised the Foundation to strike a compromise with Saleem which indicated that the area police were patronizing the accused.

He said that the Foundation was closing down the centre on temporary basis and urged the authorities to take appropriate action.