Islamabad: Forty officers of the Pakistani paramilitary forces have been suspended and twenty others are being investigated for financial corruption in Balochistan projects.
Sources within Pakistan government told News Intervention that forty personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) South Balochistan who were posted in Makran Division have been suspended after allegations of financial corruption were proved against them, while twenty FC personnel are under investigation for financial corruption. These high-ranking Frontier Corps personnel are accused of embezzlement of funds in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) South Balochistan Major General Sarfraz launched an investigation after reports of widespread corruption and looting in the CPEC project came to light. “The investigation revealed that 40 FC officials stationed in South Balochistan, including Kech, Gwadar and Panjgur districts, were found guilty to be regularly involved in financial corruption,” a high ranking official in Islamabad told News Intervention.
These forty accused officers were suspended from their posts when the evidence and documents presented against them proved to be true, while the investigations are currently underway against 20 other FC accused of corruption in the CPEC project. Pakistani sources said that several accused officials got themselves transferred to other cities by using “influential sources” after the investigations were initiated by the IG Frontier Corps Major General Sarfraz.
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an approximately $64 billion project based mostly in southern Balochistan. Therefore, Pakistan started strengthening its military siege in the southern part of Balochistan from the beginning of the project, and during this time Frontier Corps stationed in Southern Balochistan was named FC South. Turbat was made its headquarters, where hundreds of new outposts and checkposts were set up and along with this there was a substantial increase in military activities.
Balochistan’s parliamentarians had also stated that billions of dollars were given to Pakistan by China in the name of CPEC. While the provincial government has remained completely indifferent the Pakistan Army has commenced the work. Even the tenders of road construction were awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), which is a subsidiary of the Pakistan Army, said the government sources within Pakistan.
Pakistan government sources further added that the FWO has built Gwadar to Hoshap M8 Road and further from there the N95 Road. “These roads are just some ordinary two-lane roads which are not eligible for a big project like the CPEC. Also, all the small and big bridges built on that road were have already collapsed within a year of their construction,” the Pakistan government official explained.
“Nowhere will you see two-lane roads on the CPEC project. These two-lane roads are not useful for local journeys due to their poor construction and maintenance. I am astonished by the audacity of corruption by these Frontier Corps officials,” the Pakistan government official added.