ISLAMABAD, April 25: Some criminal minds in the National Highway Authority took a very short route to play big fraud on the NHA for a long time.

City police said on Friday that the fraudsters simply used the abbreviation NHA to siphon off Rs8 million of the National Highway Authority which operates a bank account under the title NHA.

An orderly of NHA opened a bank account with the same title for National Holding Authority and, with the help of colleagues, deposited in it cheques and demand drafts received in the name of NHA for the National Highway Authority, the police said.

A deputy director, one lower and one upper division clerk, an office assistant and the orderly were arrested by the police on suspicion but the first two were released as interrogators found them innocent.

While the National Highway Authority has a bank account in Allied Bank Aabpara Branch with the title NHA, police said the accused opened an account in Al-Falah Bank F-10 Branch with title National Holding Authority (NHA) to orchestrate the fraud.

The fraud came to light a year ago when a CNG station’s file, sent to NHA for grant of ‘no objection certificate’, along with a Demand Draft for Rs550,000, was reported stolen. The file was found but without the Demand Draft.

After an inquiry discovered that the DD had been encashed in Al-Falah Bank F-10 branch, the Deputy Director of NHA lodged a complaint with Shalimar police in March 2007.

Police investigations pinned the crime on the orderly who operated the bank account with the title NHA (National Holding Authority) and had submitted the stolen DD and transferred its amount into an account in his own name in the same bank.

After about a year the police submitted challan of the case against the orderly in a court. But the judge remarked that the fraud could not have been played without the involvement of NHA officials.

Consequently the police arrested deputy director, office assistant, upper and lower division clerks in the second week of April. The office assistant, a clerk and the orderly were sent to Adyala Jail on judicial remand, the police said.

When contacted by Dawn Director Public Relation of NHA Ahmed Nadeem Hotiana said the matter lies with the police and the court will decide whether any fraud took place and any NHA official was involved or not.