Exploiting the farmers: Police find over 100,000 wheat bags in warehouses

SUKKUR:

The Sukkur police have seized over 100,000 empty wheat bags during raids on warehouses in Sukkur and Pano Aqil on Tuesday, arresting 15 suspects in the process.

Following complaints made to the food department in Sukkur about the unavailability of bags, the police raided warehouses belonging to influential landlords in the area and seized over 100,000 bags. The police also arrested 15 people, registering FIRs against them at the relevant police stations.

Instead of providing the bags to farmers for free, the provincial food department had allegedly sold the bags to the landlords, who later sold them to the growers at exorbitant prices.

Sukkur SSP Tanveer Hussain Tunio told The Express Tribune that the police received a tip-off that a large number of wheat bags had been stored illegally in warehouses.

Despite repeated attempts to contact him, Sukkur district food controller Anis Mahar was not available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2015.