According to sources, it is believed that Dr Javed Laghari is under tremendous pressure on the issue of fake degrees and misplacement of his brother could be linked with this issue. — File Photo

HEC chairman’s brother picked up

HYDERABAD: Former DCO of Tando Mohammad Khan Dr Farooq Leghari, who is the brother of Higher Education Commission chairman Dr Javed Leghari, was picked up by plain-clothed policemen and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) officials here on Monday.

Former provincial minister Dr Irfan Magsi told Dawn that he had seen Farooq Leghari being taken away in a police mobile on Fatima Jinnah road.

“I was on going to GOR colony in a car when I saw this. By the time I took a U-turn to reach the mobile, it had gone from there”, Irfan Magsi told Dawn over phone.

Before the incident, Farooq Leghari had met his cousin at his office located off Fatima Jinnah road.

“On Sunday he expressed apprehension that he might be arrested,” his cousin said. No official confirmed the arrest. Deputy Director, ACE, Hyderabad, Aftab Mujaddid Isran, denied the arrest and said that no inquiry was being conducted against Farooq Leghari.

However, sources in the ACE said that the anti-corruption committee-I had approved registration of cases against Farooq Leghari pertaining to a plot of land and parks in Tando Mohammad Khan district.

The ACE-I approves case of government officers working in BPS-17 and above for prosecution. The office of the ACE deputy director located in Shahbaz building here had remained opened on Saturday and Sunday.

An ACE source said that the arrest is not being confirmed because some other officials would also be picked up in the cases. “Normally, the ACE picks up somebody before registering an FIR against them,” he said.

Farooq Leghari has been awaiting posting after leaving the charge of the DCO of Tando Mohammad Khan a month ago.

Despite repeated attempts, Dr Javed Leghari could not be contacted on cell phone. However, according to sources, he has consulted a senior lawyer in Islamabad.