The Punjab government on Saturday suspended Ahad Cheema, the prime suspect in the Ashiyana-i-Iqbal Housing Society scam, from his official position for three months.

According to a notification, a copy of which is available with DawnNewsTV, Cheema has been suspended for three months with effect from Feb 21, when he was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Before his arrest, the former head of the Lahore Development Authority was serving the provincial government as head of two thermal companies.

Cheema was arrested after discrepancies and alleged corruption worth billions were detected in a deal between the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) and Bismillah Engineering Services.

According to NAB, the former LDA chief allegedly misused his authority and with criminal intent prepared, processed, recommended and got approved a fraudulent and illegal request by awarding contract of the Rs14 billion Ashiyana-i-Iqbal Housing Society project.

The prosecution alleges that Cheema had awarded the contract for the Ashiyana scheme to Bismillah Engineering Services in return for 32 kanals of land. According to the prosecution, the land was transferred to various members of Cheema's family, including his cousin and his sister.