The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan's anti-graft agency, says it has finished the groundwork for investigations into captive power plants (CPPs). These are generating units, usually set up by private entities, that supply electricity mainly for their own use. Chairman Lieutenant General Nazir Ahmed Butt (Retd) told a media briefing on Monday that results are expected early next year.
Captive power plant cases
Butt said the bureau had taken notice of irregularities in the power sector and would start cases at both federal and provincial levels. He said the preparations for these cases were finished and that the investigation results were expected early next year. The briefing was held to review the bureau's recoveries, and the power-sector cases were presented as a separate step.
The chairman also said that action on irregularities in mines and minerals, along with the Auqaf department, which manages religious endowments, had been added to the bureau's future plans. He did not give a timeline for those areas in the briefing.
Recoveries of state land and assets
Amjad Aulakh, Director General of NAB operations, briefed reporters on anti-graft recoveries. He said the bureau's work had resulted in recoveries of state assets worth Rs9.18 trillion, which he said was made up of Pakistan Railways land worth Rs6.78 trillion and provincial department land worth Rs2.395 trillion. He said the total recovered so far in 2026 was Rs14.6 trillion.
Aulakh gave regional figures as well. NAB Balochistan was credited with recovering 811,967 acres of forest department land worth Rs1.71 trillion, and NAB Lahore with 4,380 acres of provincial state land worth Rs563.07 billion. He also said the bureau had moved to an AI-based investigation system called NAB EYE, which it says is meant to reduce human discretion and error.
The briefing described the recovery figures as covering the third quarter of 2026, but the chairman's opening remarks referred to the first quarter. The briefing did not reconcile the two labels, so the exact period covered by the totals is unclear.
Money laundering, overseas students and Malik Riaz
Butt said the bureau had attached properties worth Rs180 billion in money laundering cases, under direction from the court. He said around 147,000 Pakistani children were studying at universities abroad, and that institutions in some countries were not responding to Pakistan's requests for information. He did not name the countries and said only that three countries with large Pakistani populations were not cooperating.
On complaints, Butt said NAB had received 60 percent of its complaints about private businessmen, 18 percent about bureaucrats and 4.5 percent about politicians. He also said Interpol, the international police cooperation body, had issued red notices against Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz, and invited him to return and face the cases against him.
Aasan alfaaz mein
NAB ne kaha hai ke captive power plants ke mamlaat mein tehqiqat ki tayyari mukammal ho chuki hai aur nateejay agle saal ki shuruaat tak aane ki umeed hai. Is ke ilawa NAB ne state land aur assets ki wapsi ke bare mein bari figures pesh ki hain, lekin in ke periods ke bare mein wazahat nahi thi. Briefing mein bijli ke bill ya qeemat ka zikar nahi tha, is liye aam shehri par fori asar ka koi wazeh ishara nahi mila.
