GILGIT, May 24: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has started investigation into the upgrading, funds allocation and promotion of professors in the former Postgraduate College Gilgit (PCG), sources said.

The PCG was approved in 1996, but not a single student was enrolled in the postgraduate section until its building was handed over to Karakoram International University, KIU, but the professors got promotions in grades 19 and 20 against the vacant posts of the college, sources said.

"A professor of economics faked the information to the higher authorities that he was the chairman of the department, and at least eight students were enrolled in the master's level which later proved to be fake as no student was enrolled since its very inception," the sources said.

They added that the college was opened to teach English, Maths, Urdu and Economics but no one applied for admission, and junior professors of other subjects were given promotions against the vacant posts.

The sources claimed that NAB had confiscated the record of the defunct PCG and at least six officials had been indicted in the probe. However, the sources said that the authorities were yet to fix the blame on the responsible persons about the ghost college and its operations.

VC ACCUSED: The former vice-chancellor of the Karakoram International University, Dr Muhammad Azam Khan, has been accused of expropriating a laptop, remote control, data cable, power cable and multimedia equipment which he refused to return to the KIU on one pretext or the other, sources said.

They said the equipment was the property of the Information Technology Centre for Women, Gilgit, which is being run under the supervision of the Northern Areas Education Department.

The sources said that the education department asked for returning this equipment to the KIU, but the KIU officials said that they were told by the acting vice chancellor and registrar of the KIU that the equipment were in the possession of the former vice chancellor, Dr Azam Khan.