The Food Department Rawalpindi and district police while conducting raids in different areas foiled bids to smuggle wheat and flour besides seizing 17,328 wheat and flour bags and 26 tons fine wheat flour (maida) during last 10 days.
According to a district administration spokesman, the authorities of the food department along with Rawalpindi district and motorway police conducted raids and managed to foil many wheat smuggling bids.
33 truckloads of wheat, flour and fine wheat flour (maida) were confiscated while the drivers namely Afaq, Usman, Sajid, Shah Zaib, Zaheer, Imran, Abbas, Zakir, Fareed, Burhan Uddin, Sajjad, Mukhtar, Rehmat, Ismail, Khawar, Ghulam Abbas, Malak, Amir, Akhtar, Janullah, Abdul Majeed and others were also sent behind the bars.
The authorities concerned had been directed to strictly monitor district exit points to control wheat smuggling, he said adding, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi Tahir Farooq had instructed the authorities to strictly monitor the movement of wheat and take strict action in accordance with the law against the rules violators.
The spokesman said that all the exit points of Rawalpindi division were being monitored round the clock to control wheat smuggling as the administration had set up 14 check posts at exit points of the four districts of the division to check wheat smuggling.
The administration in collaboration with police and special branch, was carrying out operations and a special monitoring system had also been developed particularly for exit points of Rawalpindi division to check wheat smuggling.
A comprehensive plan had been formulated to curb the smuggling of wheat, he added.
The check posts were set up at exit points of Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal districts, he said and informed, the district administration in collaboration with the motorway police and the food department was making efforts to control wheat smuggling.
Rawalpindi district police and the food department on the special directives of Punjab government had also set up five special pickets at exit points of Rawalpindi district to control wheat smuggling. According to a police spokesman, special pickets were established in Naseerabad area, Hakla Interchange, Gangu Bahadur, HMC Road and Brahama Interchange
