Weapons scam: Govt lost Rs10,000 on every bullet proof jacket, claims witness

PESHAWAR: A witness in the Rs7 billion worth weapons scam case, alleged on Tuesday that despite having received a lower bid for purchase of bullet proof jackets, the contract was given to Arsahd Majeed costing the state exchequer and extra Rs10,000 on every jacket. The revelations were made by Malik Abdul Qayum, a Karachi based contractor for furniture and other general orders, as he recorded his statement before judicial magistrate Muhammad Ilyas Khan in the weapons scam on Tuesday. Presented in court by National Accountability Bureau officer Inayat Khan, Qayum said that when the tender for purchasing of bullet proof jackets was advertised in newspapers, he was contacted by Raza Ali Khan, the brother-in-law of former chief minister Amir Haider Hoti’s brother Ghazan Hoti. Qayum further told the court that Raza Khan had invited him to table a bid for the tender of bullet proof jackets. For this purpose he even visited Pehsawar and met with Raza Khan in the office of Haider Hoti’s advisor Naiz Ali Shah in the chief minister house. In in his statement, Qayum claimed that he had quoted the price of one jacket as Rs45,000. Arshad Majeed, who eventually got the contract, had quoted Rs48,000 for each jacket. Qayum alleged that Raza Khan was willing to promise the contract, if he was provided a significant cut. However, a bargain was never reached. “Despite offering to provide one jacket at Rs45,000, this contract was given to Arshad Majeed who raised the price from Rs48,000 to Rs55,000. If my offer was accepted at that time, police department would have saved Rs10,000 on every jacket,” Qayum told the judicial magistrate. Qayum further contended that the jackets he had promised to supply were American-made, while the ones provided by his competitor were China-made. “When I tried to approach the court regarding this embezzlement in the procurement of weapons, Raza Khan told me that I will be compensated through Ghazan Hoti, brother of former CM Haider Hoti.” The contractor further claimed that the then police departments’ budget officer Javed Khan had a partial attitude towards Majeed in awarding the huge procurement of weapons, jackets and other equipments during 2008-10. Majeed, the main contractor in the weapons scam, had been arrested. He had recorded his statement before a judicial magistrate providing names those involved in the scam. He had later paid Rs102 million under the ‘voluntary return’ system of NAB. Budget officer Javed Khan had also paid Rs42 million under the same scheme. Former inspector general of police Malik Naveed was arrested in this case on November 20,2 013 and has spent over 56 days in the custody of NAB after which an accountability court sent him to Central Prison Peshawar on 14-day judicial remand on January 15. Niaz Ali Shah were also arrested in the case on January 6 but they paid Rs20 million under the scheme and was released. Raza Khan had also been arrested at the same time and is currently in the custody of NAB.