KARACHI: A team of Customs intelligence on Friday collected record from equipment and gadgets installed at the headquarters of Bol television, a sister concern of Axact, the IT company allegedly involved in a multi-million fake degree scam.

The team faced protest by a large number of journalists associated with Bol and some journalist bodies, who shouted slogans against the government and tried to stop customs officials from entering the building. However, the team, comprising nearly half a dozen members, managed at last to enter the office.

Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (I&I) had issued a notice to Bol for illegally importing machinery and equipment. The notice sought receipts and other documents related to import of various items and said import duty and taxes were also not paid by the channel.

Customs officials said they have a legal notice with them to carry out the investigation.

“We have credible information that the equipment and gadgets installed at the Bol television were imported through unauthorised routes without payment of taxes and duties,” claimed one of the customs officials. “We will revisit the Bol office soon.”

Meanwhile, journalist bodies including Karachi Union of Journalists, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and office-bearers of the Karachi Press Club set up a camp at the Bol office in Karachi to express solidarity with the journalists associated with the Bol television.

Express Tribune

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ISLAMABAD: The Pak­istan Electronic Media Reg­ulatory Authority (Pemra) ordered the management of Bol Television on Thursday to stop their transmission until the directors of their parent company Axact were exonerated from charges of fraud and money laundering.

Axact’s directors are currently facing charges in the wake of a massive fake degree scandal, which was exposed by The New York Times.

A spokesman for the electronic media watchdog told Dawn that the Bol management had been told that until the investigation into this matter was concluded and the directors of Axact were proven innocent, they could not air their channel’s transmission.

The management of Bol TV had announced the first of Ramazan as the formal launch date for their channel and a test transmission had begun a few days ago.

According to the Pemra spokesman, the authority asked Bol TV to cease transmission in pursuance of the letter, issued by the Ministry of Information and Broa­dcasting earlier on Thursday.

The information ministry had issued directions to Pemra to stop the transmission of Bol TV. The letter, titled ‘Policy advice under Section 5 of the Pemra Act 2007’, directed the authority to “ensure stoppage of transmission of Bol channel through any distribution network for the time being (sic).”

The letter further says that the directors of Axact are about to launch the Bol TV channel, and that since the matter is under investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency, letting the channel go on air may seriously hamper the investigation.

Dawn

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