Over 10,000 sacks of hoarded wheat seized

The Punjab food department has seized more than 10,000 sacks of illegally hoarded wheat in various parts of Dera Ghazi Khan district, while over 6,000 sacks were allegedly sold without permission by mill and warehouse owners.

Authorities have registered four separate FIRs against the accused under the Punjab Foodstuffs Con-trol Act 1958 and the Punjab Speculation Commodities Act 2021. The official sources said the operation was carried out on the instructions of Deputy Commissioner Mu-hammad Usman Khalid.

The confiscated wheat had earlier been seized and sealed by the District Food Controller (DFC) and food inspectors, but subsequent inspections revealed that a significant portion had been illegally sold.

During a follow-up visit, DFC Khadim Hussain Faraz discovered that 1,000 sacks (2,500 maunds) of wheat had been unlawfully sold from Badshah Cotton Factory in the Tunsa Sadar area. As a result, FIR No. 649/25 was registered.

Similarly, FIR 650/25 was lodged against Muhammad Zubair of Baloch Cotton Factory for the unauthorised sale of 600 sacks of wheat.

In Kala area, a stockist identified as Ghulam Musta-fa was found to have sold 3,500 sacks without per-mission. A case has been requested by Assistant Food Control-ler Javed Iqbal. In another incident, in Shah Sadar Din, Ghulam Sarwar, a local trader, sold 800 sacks of wheat in violation of government policy, leading to FIR 438/25 being registered at Sadar Din Police Station.

The food department has initiated further legal ac-tion against all involved parties.

DFC Khadim Hussain Faraz said the department will continue its crackdown on wheat hoarding and smug-gling to ensure the steady supply of affordable flour to the public. "We will not succumb to any pressure," he asserted.