CHINIOT: The Chiniot Municipal Committee (MC) staff has sealed an under-construction plaza after its owner facilitated the arrest of a Maps Branch employee caught accepting a bribe.

Mannan Rafiq was constructing a building on Jhang-Chiniot Road without an approved building plan. He allegedly approached Muhammad Hayat, an employee of the MC’s Maps Branch, who posed as an officer and offered to approve the plaza’s map for a bribe.

Hayat initially demanded Rs10,000, which Mannan paid. When Hayat later asked for an additional Rs20,000, Mannan arranged a sting operation with the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and got him arrested while receiving the marked notes.

ACE registered an FIR under Section 161 of the PPC and arrested Hayat. However, instead of investigating the corruption, the MC staff sealed Mannan’s under-construction plaza.

Chief Officer Zahid Farid said that Hayat was a low-ranking support staff member with no authority to approve building plans. Farid suggested that the bribery case may be rooted in a longstanding dispute between Hayat and Mannan.

The ACE FIR did not specify any property or plaza related to the bribery case, nor did it confirm that Hayat had accepted a bribe to approve a specific map.

Rafiq demanded an impartial inquiry into the matter and the de-sealing of his plaza. This is the third time Hayat has been arrested for accepting bribes while posing as an MC officer.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2024