ACE Probes Alleged Suthra Punjab Scam
The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has launched an inquiry into suspected financial irregularities in the Suthra Punjab Agency in Faisalabad, involving monthly fuel and vehicle rental expenses. Officials have taken video recordings, documents and mobile phones of some employees for the investigation, according to sources cited by The Express Tribune.
Legal action in the matter would depend on the outcome of the inquiry. At this stage, the claims are allegations under investigation, not findings against any named individual.
The fleet figures at the centre of the inquiry
The sources said it was suspected that the agency had shown the Punjab government a fleet of 800 vehicles for sanitation operations, although only around 550 were allegedly in the field. Approximately Rs15.6 million was being spent monthly on fuel for the declared fleet.
When the rental expenses of another 200 vehicles were included, the alleged irregularities amounted to nearly Rs17.5 million per month, according to the sources. That monthly figure is what gives the inquiry its scale: even a single month of inflated fuel and rental claims would run into tens of millions of rupees of public money.
The suspected method, as described by the sources, involved the use of multiple fake number plates against a vehicle to obtain fuel. Petrol station employees and other individuals reportedly worked together to attach fake registration plates to a vehicle and draw fuel against them. After refuelling, the vehicle was allegedly taken to a workshop near the petrol station on Rajbah Road, where the fuel was drained.
Evidence the investigators are examining
The sources said an allegation was also being investigated that vehicle tracking devices had been deliberately damaged, and CCTV cameras at the petrol station rendered dysfunctional, to conceal the acts. Local ACE officials were examining the evidence and financial details to look into the responsibility and extent of the alleged fraud.
If those claims are borne out, they would point to a deliberate effort to defeat the two checks meant to catch this kind of fraud: tracking devices that show where a vehicle actually went, and cameras that show what actually happened at the pump. Damaged trackers and blind cameras, taken together, would leave only paper records, and paper records are the easiest records to inflate.
For now, none of that has been established in a court or a completed inquiry report. The ACE inquiry is at the evidence-gathering stage, and the figures quoted so far come from sources rather than an official ACE statement. Readers should therefore treat the Rs17.5 million monthly figure as the alleged scale of the irregularities, not as a proven loss.
Why a sanitation inquiry matters
Suthra Punjab is the Punjab government’s cleanliness programme, and its vehicles are the visible end of that programme in towns and cities. When a sanitation fleet is shown on paper as larger than it is on the road, two things suffer at once: public money, and the service itself, since fewer vehicles in the field means less cleaning than the programme promises.
The inquiry is based in Jaranwala, in Faisalabad district, but its questions apply wherever fleet numbers and fuel bills are reported without independent checks. The outcome will show whether the ACE inquiry leads to charges, recoveries, or a clean chit, and that outcome is the next development to watch.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ACE investigating?
Suspected financial irregularities in the Suthra Punjab Agency in Faisalabad, involving monthly fuel and vehicle rental expenses.
What are the alleged figures?
Sources say 800 vehicles were shown on paper against around 550 allegedly in the field, with about Rs15.6 million a month spent on fuel for the declared fleet, and alleged irregularities of nearly Rs17.5 million a month once rental costs for another 200 vehicles are included.
How was the alleged fraud carried out?
Sources allege fake number plates were used to draw fuel, which was then drained at a nearby workshop, while tracking devices were damaged and petrol station CCTV cameras rendered dysfunctional.
Has anyone been charged?
No. The matter is at the inquiry stage, and legal action would depend on the outcome of the investigation.
Where did the inquiry start?
In Jaranwala, in Faisalabad district, where local ACE officials are examining evidence and financial details.
