LAHORE - Some senior officers in the Punjab police are accused of accepting kickbacks worth millions of rupees in the procurement of bullet-proof jackets by awarding the contract to a firm of their ‘own choice’ in sheer violation of the prescribed rules and regulations.
Sources disclosed on Monday that the Provincial Home Department has also asked the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) to ensure ‘appropriate action’ at his end.
However, no inquiry has been initiated yet by the police department to check irregularities in the award of contract (No 1540, dated 01.06.2013) for purchase of 2891 bullet proof jackets for the Punjab police. The Punjab Chief Secretary has also sought a detailed report from the authorities concerned to ensure independent inspection.
It was also learnt that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), a federal institution supposed to probe into mega corruption scams, has also been approached by the aggrieved parties for an independent investigation into the ‘bullet-proof deal.’
Sources say the police department has put the lives of thousands of cops at stake by purchasing substandard bullet proof jackets to embezzle Rs 90 million from the total contract of Rs 200 million.
The complainant alleged that AIG (Logistic) SSP Shariq Kamal, Assistant Director Kashif Madni, and Registrar of the Punjab Central Police Office (CPO) Ajmal Khan had accepted kickbacks worth Rs 90 million and awarded the contract to a firm of their own choice. The complainant claims that to prove the irregularities, three samples should be collected from the supplied inventory from the ordinance store of AIG (Logistic) Farooqabad. One sample should be retained and the other two must be sent to two different labs for testing.
“The result will definitely show that the bullet-proof jackets are not supplied in accordance with specifications. It means that the police officers’ Mafia in connivance with the supplier embezzled millions of rupees from public money,” he asserted. The complainant also revealed that the above-mentioned officers are desperately struggling to get the funds at the earliest since the bill for payment is being prepared at the AG Office.
The NAB authorities are also appealed to immediately intervene and to help stop the payments to the contractor before the investigations are completed.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the police Punjab police brushed aside the allegations of kickbacks saying that such reports are baseless and unfounded. The spokesperson further clarified that SSP Shariq Kamal had not been working as AIG (Logistic) when the deal was done. So, allegations against him are untrue.
On the other hand, the complainant says that the provincial hierarchy should order an independent probe into the mega scam “to separate the wheat from the chaff.”
The Punjab police department had released a tender for the procurement of 600 units of bullet-proof jackets on October 16, 2012. Later, the advertisement was amended for the purchase of 2891 units of bullet-proof jackets. The department later also changed the specifications in the tender documents.
It was done to accommodate the specific supplier, sources explained. According to the contract, the police had purchased one unit of bullet proof jacket at Rs 69,800 this time while the same jacket had been purchased at Rs 40,900 only one year ago. It is worth mentioning here that the Pakistan Army purchases one unit of bullet proof jacket at Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000 but the police department is all set to pay Rs 70,000 for one unit of bullet proof jacket from the public money.
“The bullet-proof jackets supplied to police store are substandard having poor quality. These jackets will surely put the lives of policemen at risk instead of protecting their bodies from the bullets in case of any emergency,” sources added.
They said that the bidder managed to get clear all these substandard jackets from the police authorities technically as the firm sent only samples of genuine jackets for clearance but later supplied substandard jackets in huge bulks.
“The change in the specifications actually does not match with the increase in price. The samples for Lab test is in accordance the requisitioned specifications but the goods are not according to the specifications.” The minor change of the material that is dyneema / spectra as compared to the previous specification costs not more than two thousand rupees. “The supplied jackets should be inspected as a complete unit. Partial checking of the material is the main reason of corruption,” the complainant pointed out. He further appealed to the authorities to ensure proper and complete checking of the bullet proof jackets since that are life saving units.
Three firms namely Musterhalft (Pvt) Ltd, Spika Manufacturer, and Zafar Azfar & Co had participated in the bidding. But the police department expelled Musterhalft (Pvt) Ltd, Spika Manufacturer on technical grounds and only Zafar Azfar & Co was allowed for solo-flight in the competition. Hence, there was no price competition for the said firm and it ‘qualified’ in a pre-planned way, thanks to the police high-ups.