Rs100M Railway Quarters Scam Exposed in Mughalpura

LAHORE: A preliminary inquiry spearheaded by Director General Vigilance, DIG North Abdul Rab Chaudhry, has exposed a massive scam involving over 200 fraudulent allotments of railway quarters at Mughalpura Workshops, according to The News.

The investigation, submitted to the Ministry of Railways, revealed that these illicit allotments were secured through bribes totaling nearly Rs100 million. It implicated several current and former Pakistan Railways officials, including estate inspectors, assistant inspectors of works, and clerical staff from the Lahore and Workshops Divisions, in the scheme.

A central figure, Adil Shehzad, a UDC, was apprehended by Railways Police Lahore for illegally occupying Bungalow No. 260-B in Signal Shop Colony using a forged allotment letter. Shehzad also allegedly leased the bungalow’s servant quarters to private individuals.

The inquiry uncovered that corrupt officials fabricated fake allotment notices and G-10 forms by scanning senior officers’ signatures, deliberately keeping these fraudulent documents off official records to conceal the scam, depriving deserving employees of housing.

DG Abdul Rab Chaudhry urged stringent action against all culprits, prompting the formation of a special investigation team, led by SP Lahore and SP Mughalpura Workshops, to probe further.

Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi praised the vigilance team’s meticulous work and vowed that all implicated officers and employees would face legal repercussions.