An accountability court in Quetta remanded former chairman Balochistan Development Authority and former security officer of Tethyan Copper Company into National Accountability Bureau’s custody for 15 days in the Reko Diq scam case.
The accused persons were arrested from Islamabad four days ago.
During the hearing, Judge Munawar Shahwani approved the anti-graft watchdog’s remand plea.
It is pertinent to mention that NAB’s Balochistan chapter has filed a reference against 26 accused including the former officers of Balochistan government and international companies in the Reko Diq case.
According to sources, the accused in connivance with each other caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
In 1993, the Chaghi Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement was signed between the Balochistan Development Authority and an Australian company called Broken Hills Proprietary in which the Australian company was illegally benefited by corrupt officials belonging to the Balochistan Development Authority.
The Balochistan Mining Concession Rules were not only illegally amended to further strengthen the terms of this agreement, which was in conflict with the national interest, but also by repeatedly entering into illegal sub-agreements and introducing a new company called Tethyan Copper Company.
