LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on Friday arrested a personal secretary of PTI leader Moonis Elahi on charges of awarding a contract to his favourite contractor.

According to the ACE, it arrested Sohail Asghar Awan for awarding a road construction project in Gujrat to his favourite contractor after taking Rs5 million in bribe from him.

It said the suspect also caused a loss of millions to the exchequer by using substandard material for the project. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), however, claimed that Mr Awan was ‘abducted’ from the sessions court despite having protective bail.

“Sohail Asghar Awan was walking out of the court after getting protective bail when scores of policemen and plainclothes personnel surrounded and beat him like he was a terrorist,” it said.

“First my friend, then Mohammad Khan Bhatti and my cousin were abducted and were produced 30 days (before court) after subjecting them to severe torture. Now when Mr Awan is produced, a new false case will be instituted against me and my father (Chaudhry Parvez Elahi),” Moonis said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the ACE also booked Lahore Waste Management Company former chairman Malik Amjad Noon for allegedly causing a loss of millions to the exchequer in procurement.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023