23-km stretch worth Rs 20 billion illegally added in CPEC’s Ring Road project’s original alignment: Information Minister

Islamabad: Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhri has said that a 23-kilometre stretch was illegally added in the original alignment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Islamabad-Rawalpindi Ring Road project to benefit housing societies that led to the additional payment of Rs 20 billion on account of land procurement.

His comments came after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari resigned, several officers were shuffled and an inquiry was ordered into the alleged misappropriations.

In a series of tweets, Fawad Chaudhry said the PM was apprised about the matter of the Ring Road project and he directed Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar as well as the Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi to probe the matter.

The minister said according to the initial inquiry, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) confirmed the reports that the former DC and some officers were involved in the scandal, suggesting sending the matter to the departments concerned for further investigation.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik shuffled the officers after the Rawalpindi Ring Road scam inquiry was completed. Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Muhammad Anwarul Haq, Deputy Commissioner Attock Ali Anan Qamar and Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Shoaib Ali were removed from their posts and directed to report to the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD). Deputy Commissioner Chakwal Bilal Hashim has been given the additional charge of the Rawalpindi District. Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Attock, Shehryar Arif Khan has been given additional charge of the post of deputy commissioner Attock, while Additional Deputy Commissioner General Qasim Ijaz will also take care of the Revenue Department of the Rawalpindi District.

Fawad Chaudhry said Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered to probe the matter after an engineer wrote a letter to him, indicating the alignment of the road had been changed.

“After an investigation was launched into the matter, it was revealed that not only the alignment of the road was changed but it had been expanded towards Attock by 29 kilometres,” the minister elaborated. Chaudhry added: “The reason for expanding the road was to benefit several housing societies.”

Regarding the alleged involvement of Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari and Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan in influencing the officials to change the design of the project, the minister said that so far, there was no evidence of the involvement of any minister or adviser in the Rawalpindi Ring Road – popularly known as R3 – project.

He said Zulfi Bukhari had tendered his resignation on moral grounds. “Both the government functionaries (Zulfi Bukhari and Ghulam Sarwar Khan) have rejected the accusations, saying they have been wrongly ragged into the matter,” Chaudhry said.

“All citizens are equal in the eyes of law. Now there will be investigations into all allegations whether these are against opposition leaders, cabinet members, the bureaucracy or any institution,” Fawad Chaudhry said. He contended that the principle of ‘answerability’ would be applicable to everyone facing any accusation.