A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to Syed Waseem Ahmed, an approver against former provincial minister Rana Mashood, in Punjab Youth Festival case. The counsel of the accused contended that Rana Mashood and Usman Anwar were awarded illegal contracts. He pointed out that accused Waseem Ahmed had become an approver and he had recorded his statement before a judicial magistrate.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched a probe into alleged misappropriation of millions of rupees of the Punjab Youth Festival. Earlier on June 21, the Bureau had arrested former DG Sports Board Punjab Usman Anwar in the case. On June 29 last, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had barred former Punjab education and sports minister Rana Mashood from flying abroad for his involvement in the alleged embezzlement of funds of the Punjab Youth Festival.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019