KARACHI - Former information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, who is currently under trial in a corruption case, said on Saturday that people of Sindh will sacrifice their lives, but will not allow division of Sindh.

Sharjeel was talking to reporters outside an accountability court where he was brought for appearance in a court in a corruption case. He said that some people were trying to divide people of the city. He said that people of Sindh will still not let anyone create division in the province.

Earlier, during the hearing, Memon and other accused were produced before the accountability court in a reference pertaining to corruption of Rs5.77 billion through distribution of government advertisements. As the court inquired about facilities in the jail, Memon said he talked to the provincial government to provide room coolers to jails. He said that room coolers will be given to all prisons of Sindh very soon.

Zeenat Jahan, a prosecution witness, who recorded her testimony at the last hearing, was absent from Saturday’s hearing. The court adjourned the hearing and directed the prosecution to produce the witness at the next hearing on May31. Jahan was posted director at the provincial information department in 2014. She had lodged a complaint with the NAB after she had observed massive financial corruption and misuse of powers in the department. Currently, she is serving as information director at the provincial information department in Karachi and is a prime witness in the case.

NAB had filed a reference in 2016 against the former minister, the then provincial information secretary, deputy directors of the Sindh information department Mansoor Ahmed Rajput, Mohammed Yousuf Kaboro, and others for allegedly committing corruption from 2013 to 2015 in award of advertisements relating to provincial government’s awareness campaigns in electronic media, thereby causing a loss of around Rs3.27 billion to the national exchequer.