TAXILA: Bids to smuggle over 1,480 metric tonnes of wheat and wheat products were foiled and 44 people were sent behind bars for smuggling wheat and flour in the district of Rawalpindi in the last two weeks.
This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hassan Waqar Cheema while briefing newsmen about the anti-wheat smuggling activities here on Sunday. He said from March 25 to April 6, the district administration with the assistance of the police and the food department averted 44 attempts to smuggle wheat and flour in 44 vehicles among them 22 trailers from various parts of Punjab to KP.
“As many as 12 first investigation reports were also registered against the people involved in the illegal movement of wheat and wheat products.”
He added that 32 vehicles were confiscated and a number of crew members were booked and arrested accordingly. He said that 287 metric tonnes of wheat products like flour, fine flour and maida smuggling bids were also foiled during the period.
During the crackdown against the wheat products smuggling mafia, 12 vehicles were impounded which were involved in illegal movement of wheat products. Responding to a question, Mr Cheema said that wheat wad largely being smuggled from Lahore and Gujranwala while flour was being smuggled from the local flour mills to various parts of KP and Hazara division.
He said that seven check posts were established at various points of the district to check the anti-wheat smuggling activities. He said bids were foiled at designated and undesignated routes especially Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1), Rawalpindi-Peshawar GT Road and link routes especially Taxila-Khanpur road and Taxila-Hattar road.