20000217

Food dept officials,

BMP accused of

wheat smuggling

RECORDER REPORT

MULTAN: The Divisional Flour Mills Association (DFMA) of Dera Ghazi Khan has alleged that officials of the food department and law enforcing agencies are encouraging wheat smuggling from Punjab to Afghanistan via Balochistan and the NWFP by taking bribes.

A press release of the association says an Emergent meeting of the DFMA was held on Tuesday at Kot Addu under the presidentship of its provincial vice president Choudhry Mohammad Arif to review the 'high handedness' of DG Khan administration.

The meeting observed that officials of the Food Department, Punjab Police and Border Military Police (BMP) were allowing illegal wheat movement to the two neighbouring provinces after taking a bribe of Rs, 20,000 per truck laden with 250 bags of wheat.

It alleged that the officials forced the flour millers to become part of the smuggling racket. "Those, who denied are being harassed by the officials," the release added.

It was further noted in the meeting that police and BMP officials had obtained the photocopies of permits and licences of the flour dealers doing business near the inter-provincial border and later supplied the photocopies to wheat smugglers for their smooth passage enroute to Balochistan and the NWFP.

The association warned that if the administration did not take appropriate steps to stop smuggling, the flour millers of the area would go on strike from February 11, and would stop supplying flour.