50-ton Flour Smuggling Bid Foiled, 5 Flour Mills Penalized In Attock

The Attock district administration launched a massive crackdown against the flour smuggling and hoarding mafia by foiling bids to smuggle 25 tons of flour besides taking stern action against the five flour mills involved in illegal practices

ATTOCK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2023 ) :The Attock district administration launched a massive crackdown against the flour smuggling and hoarding mafia by foiling bids to smuggle 25 tons of flour besides taking stern action against the five flour mills involved in illegal practices.

This was confirmed by Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema while talking to newsmen on Friday. District food controller Muhammad Ramzan Siyal, Deputy Director DGPR Attock Shehzad Niaz Khokar, Nisar Ali Khan, officials of local administration and food department were also present on this occasion.

Briefing the newsmen about the crackdown launched against the hoarders and flour smuggling mafia, Mr Cheema said that to curb the wheat and flour smuggling from Punjab, the food department during the month of January has foiled different bids to smuggle 50 tons of flour and over 500 bags of wheat weighting to 25 tons.

He said that during the month as many as 12 flour smugglers were booked under the Punjab foodstuff control act and sent behind bars at various police stations especially Hazro and Hassanabdal. While sharing details about the action taken against the flour mills involved in the illegal practices in district Attock, Mr Cheema said that action was taken against five different flour mills for their alleged involvement in the illegal practices.

He added that official wheat quota of five flour mills was suspended and First Investigation Report (FIR) was registered against the management for violation of the standing order procedure of supply of official flour to the public.

He said that the grain license of two flour mills was also canceled for their involvement in the sale and purchase of official wheat besides imposing a fine of over Rs 0.5 million on different flour mills for their illegal practices, violation of standing order procedure and ambiguity in the inventory and stock.

Mr. Cheema while briefing the journalists about the availability of flour to the masses at subsidized rates and addressing the paucity of flour has said that presently 46,80 bags are supplied at the sale points across the district on daily basis. He said that 6,600 bags of wheat are being supplied to 45 flour mills operating in the district.

District food controller Muhammad Ramzan Sial, while talking to newsmen on this occasion, said that the food department in collaboration with police and district administration established check posts on the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway near Hassanabdal, motorway entry points of Burhan, Chach, Ghazi interchanges besides on GT road at Attock Khurd bridge and at Punjab-KP border at Khushhalgarh near Jand where officials of food department are deployed round the clock to monitor the movement of flour and wheat to the other districts.