Officers who hounded Zardari, Gilani in jail get promotions in NAB!

Islamabad, Oct 27 : In what could come as a surprise to one and all, several retired military officers who had consistently hounded former prisoners like President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during the last eight years of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), were quietly promoted shortly before the organisation was to be wound up.

After promotions, these retired military officers are now eying lucrative positions in civilian ministries, as the process of winding up of NAB will be completed in the near future, reported The News.

The promotions were ordered by a three-member board after acknowledging their "extraordinary performance" against the corrupt politicians since the military coup of October 12, 1999, added the News.

Some of the retired Army majors were promoted to 'Grade 20', which would enable them in getting lucrative positions in the federal ministries and civilian departments once NAB is disbanded in the near future.

The NAB promotion board which decided these top level promotions consisted of only three NAB officers, whereas for civilians a full fledged board of 13 top officers of federal government sits with chairman FPSC in the chair.

One of the officials said that the chances of manoeuvring for these promotions have always been there, not only in the past but even now when the bureau was almost ready to be wound up.

An expert said that these retired Army officers are lucky to get the promotions after serving only for eight years in the NAB, while a civilian officer has to spend at least 20 years in service to qualify for that grade.

ANI