Pakistan

NATO cargo worth millions being stolen

Arshad Baig July 25, 2010

KARACHI: Cargo worth millions of rupees for Nato forces has disappeared before reaching Afghanistan for the third time since March.

The police suspect that brokers, owners of the trailers and their drivers are working in cahoots to steal the cargo. In one case, after receiving a tip-off, the police arrested the driver of one stolen container, Ata Mohammad, from a tea hotel in Mauripur, Karachi. The driver and his accomplices allegedly stole the cargo and left the trailer in Narewal, Punjab, before fleeing. The police have not been able to find the goods.

The police requested remand for the driver from judicial magistrate South, Sadarrudin Bohio. At the time of the hearing, public prosecutor Syed Shameem Ahmed submitted to the court that the suspect had worked with accomplices and could assist in identifying them, which could lead to their arrest. Ahmed appealed to the court to grant the police physical remand. The judicial magistrate gave them till July 26.

In another case, the owner of a logistics company Abdul Qarim reported that on March 5 a broker Malang Khan booked cargo for the Nato forces. This cargo, on a trailer driven by one Owais Khan, left Karachi for Afghanistan. Later, the owner of the trailer Abdul Hameed claimed that it had met with an accident and that the container would be returned in ten days. The container was returned but it was empty.

On May 21, another loaded container for Nato forces was booked by a man identified as Jahangir. A driver named Ata Mohammad left with the vehicle from Karachi. Three days later, the owner of the trailer Sallahudin reported that it had had an accident and that the container would be returned in ten days. Once again the container was returned empty.

A case has been registered at Kalri police station against the drivers Owais Khan and Ata Mohammad, the owners of the trailers Adbul Hameed and Salahuddin, and the brokers Malang Khan and Jahangir for allegedly stealing cargo worth millions of rupees.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2010.