Peshawar police recover stolen material of Bus Rapid Transit project

PESHAWAR: The stolen material, kept for the construction of Bus Rapid Transit project, has been recovered during raids at different godowns in the city.

While talking to Geo News, Peshawar City Police Officer Qazi Jamil said the construction company working on the project filed complaint stating that building material, including folding pipes and steel, was stolen. Following the complaint, police arrested a suspect identified as Basit, a resident of Peshawar.

When probed over the matter, Basit told the police about the location of godowns where the stolen material was kept and names of the three people he sold it to, the CCPO said.

Subsequently, police raided the godowns and recovered the stolen material. A case has been filed against Basit, while search was under way for three people who bought the material.

According to the police, building material worth Rs20 million was stolen. However, the construction company working on the project claimed they lost material worth Rs450 million.

The construction company officials told police they were worried about the material going missing while their work was under way.

Peshawar Development Authority Director General Israr-ul-Haq, who is supervising the BRT project, told Geo News, they were concerned over the theft of building material. But, he added, the incident would not cost the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and loss would be incurred by the construction company working on the project.

The cost of BRT project has gone up to Rs67 billion. The BRT route is divided into three parts – Reach 1 runs from Chamkani to Khyber Bazar, Reach 2 from Khyber Bazar to Aman Chowk and Reach 3 from Aman Chowk to Hayabad.

Around 60 to 70% of the work has been completed, the PDA director general said.