MULTAN: The Accountant General Punjab (AGP) has suspended from service two senior auditors of the District Accounts Office after the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) registered a case against them for alleged embezzlement in the Punjab Constabulary accounts.

An inquiry committee headed by Additional Accountant General Ishfaq Dogar also recommended the suspension of District Accounts Officer III Shaikh Bashir Ahmad after conducting an inquiry on the direction of the AGP.

Mr Ahmad who got bail a couple of days back has been barredfrom using his account.

Meanwhile, an anti-corruption court on Friday extended the remand of five employees of the Punjab Constabulary till Sept 15 in the case of embezzlement.

Earlier, the court on Thursday also granted five-day remand of two other accused, one of whom is Ramzan Shahid Gujjar, head constable at Seetal Mari police Station. A huge amount was transferred in his account without lawful authority while the other accused, Ahmad Yar, is a private person and amount was also transferred in his bank account.

On Aug 31, District Accounts Officer Mirza Sikandar Baig submitted a report to the officeof AGP about the lodging of the FIR against the employees of district account office, with reference to the fraudulent payments in respect of arrears of pay and allowances of employees of the Punjab Constabulary.

Senior auditors Tahir Abbas Bukhari and Mudassir Raza Bukhari were suspended on Sept 7.

`The Accountant General Punjab being competent authority has ordered to suspend the above named official with effect from the date of registration of FIR under section CSR-194/A, the suspension notification of each senior auditor issued by Assistant Accountant General Efficiency and Discipline Punjab stated.Another inquiry team constituted by the finance department and headed by inspector of treasury Punjab also visited district accounts office and recorded the statements of various officials. The entire record has been seized and deposited with the treasury under double lock.

A team of ACE also visited the accounts office and collected some relevant record while a letter from ACE has also been dispatched to the AGP for the provision of all relevant record for investigation.

The ACE had lodged an FIR on Aug 31 under Section 5(2)47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 461, 468, 471, 420, 467 and 409 of PakistanPenal Code against 30 employees of PC and the district accounts office on the complaint of Battalion No 3 Commander Senior Superintendent of Police Mehmoodul Hasan.

The complainant said the suspects prepared fake suspension and subsequent restoration orders of ghost PC employees and transferred salaries and arrears of those `employees` into secret accounts by preparing fake bills.

Five of the suspects from Punjab Constabulary, including Abdul Jabbar, Azam, Muhammad Ali Shah, Rahim Bakhsh and Zaffar Iqbal, had been handed over to the ACE and produced before the court on Aug 31.