BAHAWALPUR, Oct 6: The Punjab accountant general detected an alleged fraud of over Rs2.7 million in the agriculture department here during the scrutiny and verification process of accounts.

It was learnt that the misappropriation of government funds had been detected in the Gowara unit of the agriculture department by a team of AG's office. After the preliminary inquiry, AG Wazir Ahmed Qureshi immediately transferred district accounts officer Basit Hashmi to Lahore.

He also suspended from service two assistant accounts officers, a senior auditor and a junior audit officer after transferring them from Bahawalpur to Lahore. Besides, the AG also moved the Punjab finance department for removal from service and departmental action against finance department's DAO Naveed Ahmed Qureshi, Gowara botanist Muhammad Iqbal Saleem and cashier Iftikhar Javed.

In addition, the AG asked the Punjab ACE director-general Muhammad Aslam Ghuman to register a corruption case against the officials of the agriculture department and recover from them the funds allegedly embezzled by them.

Sources said the officials concerned allegedly sanctioned five bills against the fake bills prepared by the agriculture department's director, fodder institute, Sargodha.

DEATH SENTENCE: A local court of Ahmedpur East on Wednesday handed down death sentence to a convict in a murder case. The judge acquitted his co-accused - Ms Zaiboo Mai and Tahira - by giving him the benefit of the doubt.

According to the prosecution, convict Ghulam Mustafa, a Hindu turned Muslim, had developed relations with Hafiz Akbar's wife. The convict had shot dead Akbar last year while offering taraveeh in a mosque.