Punjab govt rubbishes PTI chairman’s allegations as baseless

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf announced on Sunday a campaign for the ‘recovery’ of Faisal Subhan, alleging that he went missing after exposing ‘corruption’ involving the chief minister of Punjab in Multan metro project.

During a party meeting, he demanded an inquiry into the disappearance of Subhan, who allegedly revealed the ‘corruption’ in front of Chinese officials. Later, Imran took to Twitter to express his opinion on the matter.

The PTI chairman said that Subhan confessed to Chinese regulatory authority investigating corruption in the Multan metro bus project that the chief minister and his family received hefty kickbacks in their overseas accounts.

After this confession, “Subhan has disappeared and we demand an inquiry into his disappearance,” he said. “Since the senior bureaucracy is compromised, the Supreme Court must now ensure that contracts for all the federal and provincial metro projects as well as the Orange Train be made public,” he said.

Responding to the PTI chairman’s accusations against Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Punjab government rubbished the allegations as baseless. The chief minister had been accused him of receiving kickbacks in the Multan Metro Bus project through Yabaite – a fake Chinese firm.

“To put facts straight again, the China Securities Regulatory Commission blacklisted Yabaite and awarded max penalties on the company and its owner for defaming the [Punjab] chief minister,” the government replied through its Twitter handle while responding to Imran’s series of tweets.

It went on to add that the company, Yabaite, had accepted its malicious intent and had issued a public apology as well. In Pakistan, the China Embassy also confirmed that the penalties were awarded to Yabaite. “Those who only know how to make baseless allegations cannot stand the scrutiny when called upon to do so,” the government said.

Following the controversy, the Chinese government had also vouched for Shehbaz Sharif and had rejected the corruption charges levelled against the chief minister. In its reply, the government also retweeted an old as a reminder for Imran if he has forgotten and said the issue was resolved at that time.

“China Securities Regulatory Commission investigated the illegal conduct of Jiangsu YABAITE Science and Technology Co, Ltd, which lied about its business income by fabricating project overseas, including Pakistan.”