AJK finance minister stripped of portfolio.

MUZAFFARABAD -- In a surprise move, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has withdrawn the coveted portfolio of Inland Revenue from his Minister for Finance Abdul Majid Khan.

In addition, he also stripped Mr Khan of the chairmanship of state-owned Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (BoAJK) by replacing the finance minister with the chief secretary.

Two separate notifications, carrying March 10 as issuance date, were however circulated by the Services and General Administration Department (S and GAD) late on Saturday evening.

The decision came within three days of a 'disclosure' by PM Ilyas at a Women's Day function in Muzaffarabad that the commissioner Inland Revenue would get this position against Rs350 to Rs400 million [as inducement].

At the same function, the premier had also alleged that an AJK civil servant owned offshore companies in what had triggered a guessing game in the state.

Immediately, it was not known whether the...