KARACHI: The legal troubles of the prime suspect in the Rs8.5 billion Yellow Line graft case, Zameer Abbasi, have further increased as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated an inquiry into his alleged possession of assets beyond his known sources of income and his alleged “illegal appointments” or “promotions in the Sindh government”.

Earlier in June, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Sindh had booked Abbasi, the then project director of the Karachi Mobility Project (KMP), and others following an inquiry into alleged financial mismanagement in the KMP related to the Yellow Line.

The inquiry committee report stated that Abbasi and then director procurement Jhaman made Rs8.5bn advance payments to contractors without bank guarantees despite the fact that their contracts lacked any specific clause regarding “advance payment and financial assistance to the contractors”.

A source told Dawn that the NAB had initiated an inquiry against the senior bureaucrat over allegations of possessing assets beyond his known sources of income and illegal appointments or promotions in the Sindh government.

Bureau seeks details of Zameer Abbasi’s assets, ‘illegal’ appointments, promotions

As part of the inquiry, the bureau has sought details of immovable properties registered in the names of Abbasi, his wife and children and other family members from the concerned departments.

According to the source, Abbasi began his career with NAB and was later deputed to the Sindh police as a DSP. After a Supreme Court directive, he was repatriated to his parent department, the NAB, where he served until 2016.

In the same year, he was appointed as a grade-17 section officer. The appointment was challenged before a court on allegations that it was made through irregularities and that he had also received an out-of-turn promotion, the source claimed.

The source further alleged that Abbasi had also approached the court, contending that his colleagues who had joined service with him had already been promoted to grade 19. However, before the court could decide his petition, he was promoted to grade 19, the source claimed.

In 2022, he was appointed to another key position, but the appointment was challenged before a court, which suspended the notification. Although he subsequently disappeared from the public spotlight for some time, he was later appointed to another important position, the source added.

The ACE only managed to apprehend Abbasi, a grade-19 officer of the Sindh government, claiming that he was arrested in Lahore and later produced him before the court concerned in Karachi. The provincial anti-corruption court also rejected his post-arrest bail application.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2026