JALALABAD - A provincial council member disclosed on Monday exposed a house Jalalabad where the Afghan army's stolen fuel was stored, but military officials denied the allegation.
Council member Javed Zaman, flanked by civil society activates, identified the house where the ANA vehicles would entered to store the fuel that was later sold in the market.
“ANA vehicles would enter the house where the fuel was stored before being sent to the market in motorised rickshaws,” Zaman told reporters accompanying him to the house.
A man marketing the fuel had been detained in connection with the scandal, he said, explaining: “There is no one living in the house. You can see, jerry canes of fuel and ghee, as well number plates of cars in the empty house.”
Zaman said they became suspicious about the house, which had a mosque-like loudspeaker on its rooftop. The security personnel had raided the premises before the public representative reached there along with reporters.
“Our suspicion was reinforced when we saw the loudspeaker without electricity wires, auto parts and jerry canes inside the house,” civil society activist Sangar Azizi said, alleging the fuel stolen and stored by soldiers there.
“We have shift fuel from here to our filling station. ANA vehicles bring us fuel, which I shifted several times from there. I myself am a student; my brother runs the business,” the masked detainee said.
However, 201st Selab Corps spokesman Maj. Sherin Agha dispelled the impression that the ANA vehicles had stored the fuel in the house. He took great pains to reject the accusation as baseless.
“We respect to PC members, but I have to say that no ANA soldier is either involved in the fuel theft or detained in this connection. There is no evidence in support pf the allegation,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, the Nangarhar police spokesman also denied the allegation. He said the provincial police chief had ordered an investigation.
“Police will thoroughly investigate the issue to get a real and clear picture of the case,” Lt. Col. Hazrat Husain Mashriqiwal concluded. (Pajhwok)