PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau chairman has accepted patwari Saeed Khan’s request for plea bargain in a corruption case on condition of depositing Rs22.38 million and referred the case to a local accountability court for mandatory approval.

The NAB has declared the suspect ‘king of corruption’ wielding influence in official and political circles.

Officials of the NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, produced the suspect before judge of the accountability court Ibrahim Khan the other day and said the chairman had accepted his application for plea bargain, which needed the approval of the court for execution.

The court directed the officials to produce complete record of the case and list of the properties of Saeed Khan traced by the NAB to ascertain whether the money to be received from him was in accordance with his assets or not.

The official sources said suspect Saeed Khan, who is a gardawar in the revenue department, had given an application for plea bargain soon after his arrest on April 3.

The NAB chairman accepted his application under Section 25(b) of the NAB Ordinance 1999 under which it is mandatory to refer the plea bargain plea to the court for approval.

NAB special prosecutor Azeemdad Khan and investigation officer Khitab Gul appeared before the court along with the suspect and said the bureau had no objection if the court approved the request for plea bargain.

The suspect, who was recruited in the revenue department around two decades ago had served as patwari at different lucrative localities of the provincial capital and was promoted to the post of gardawar in late 2012.