Nine officials accused of wheat embezzlement

Over 1,400 tonnes sold allegedly through bogus record entries

GUJRANWALA:

Nine employees of the food department in Gujranwala have been suspended for selling 1,422 tonnes of wheat, valued at about Rs175 million, through fake challans and record entries.

According to sources in the department, the scandal involves the sale of 12,000 sacks of wheat through counterfeiting during this year. The sources said the embezzled wheat, valued at Rs174.9 million, had been sold to flour mill dealers using forgery.

The suspended employees are suspected to have earned millions of rupees through the sale.

The food director has suspended the nine employees and referred the case to the anti-corruption department.

Following an inquiry conducted by the district food controller (DFC), the director suspended all the employees suspected in the case. Subsequently, the DFC approached the anti-corruption department to register a case.

Two departmental investigation teams from Lahore and Sargodha are checking the record.

The sources said the employees had hatched a plan in February to embezzle millions of rupees by taking wheat from farmers in higher quantity per sack during the fresh purchase in April.

However, their scheme was foiled when Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced that no new wheat purchases would be made due to the province's excess stocks.

As a result, the malpractice was revealed and an investigation launched. When inquiries were made into the wheat stock and quality in each district and tehsil, discrepancies were uncovered, the sources said.

Gujranwala District Food Controller Malik Zaman initiated the inquiry into the matter through a deputy director.