ISLAMABAD: It has been revealed that employees of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) were themselves involved in the theft of gas pipelines worth over Rs 410 million.
The disclosure was made during a meeting of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Naveed Qamar.
Officials informed the committee that gas pipelines were stolen from Sui Northern’s storage facility in Manga Mandi, causing financial losses exceeding Rs 410 million.
According to audit authorities, pipelines worth more than this amount were taken from the store, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a total of 41 inquiries related to the theft.
Officials stated that the stolen material was removed from the SNGPL store using trucks. PAC member Shazia Marri termed the incident extremely serious, saying that this was not an external theft but one carried out from within the institution.
She remarked that while theft was previously blamed on outsiders, employees of the organization are now involved themselves.
SNGPL officials told the committee that security cameras report directly to the head office and that Rs 16 million has so far been recovered out of the total loss.
They added that 41 individuals have been held responsible for the theft. FIA officials informed the committee that cases have been registered against 18 suspects, all of whom have obtained bail.
Questioning this, Chairman Naveed Qamar asked how all the accused were granted bail so easily.
Authorities further revealed that the SNGPL board has formed a special committee to handle the case, while the FIA has recovered Rs 44 million and has requested a forensic audit from Sui Northern.
The Public Accounts Committee has now sought a detailed report from the FIA on the investigation into the pipeline theft.
