Girls come out of an examination center after the first paper of Grade XII science group held under Board of Intermediate Education Karachi on Monday. PHOTO: JALAL QUERESHI/EXPRESS
HYDERABAD:
Police have arrested a corruption whistleblower associated with the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Mirpurkhas, leading to the detention of an office inspector and raising the prospect of further arrests of board officials.
Senior city police officer Quratulain told a press conference on Monday that the arrest of assistant computer programmer Azam Khan, who gave a confessional statement about alleged widespread corruption at BISE Mirpurkhas, led to the apprehension of an office inspector.
“More arrests may follow as the investigation progresses,” SP Quratulain said. Khan was presented to the media along with Town Police SHO Ameen Marri and Investigating Officer Abbass Ali Abbass, giving him an opportunity to answer questions.
At the center of the allegations is the recently suspended Inspector General of Investigations, Anwer Aleem Khanzada. Khan described him as the mainstay of the alleged corruption network. “Anwer Aleem Khanzada has played the lead role. The comptroller and many other officials are operating under him,” he said.
Khan also named secret department heads Shahid Latif and Irsahad Khanzada along with Moazam Shahbaz and Noman Ahmed Rajput as key people allegedly involved in the corruption. He alleged that around 9,000 students from Class IX to Intermediate in 2022 and 11,000 in 2023 were awarded extra or pass marks in exchange for bribes.
The whistleblower further revealed that thousands of fake educational certificates, especially Class X “pakka” certificates (required for national identity cards and domiciles), were issued from 2021 to 2025. “There is information about the issuance of pakka certificates to Afghan nationals, but I will only share this with the police,” he added. Bribes reportedly ranged from Rs 50,000 to Rs 500,000, with references from politicians, bureaucrats and journalists allegedly facilitating the process.
According to Khan, between 7,000 and 8,000 students annually received extra or passing grades through bribery. The SP confirmed that the city police have registered an FIR and the investigation is expected to make further progress. “This is just traced and so far we have apprehended only two employees,” said SP Quratulain, lamenting that the culture of bribery has deprived deserving students of their rights.
IO Abbass added that some pakka certificates were issued to Afghan nationals to help them get Pakistani domicile and national identity cards. At least four private schools and colleges are also believed to be involved in the fake certificate scam. “The suspect has given us many names, but we will investigate each one before revealing identities.”
