HYDERABAD, July 14: The Cattle Merchants Welfare Association (CMWA), Sindh, on Sunday threatened to resort to strike if the officials of local councils and contractors were not stopped from charging excess tax in cattle markets.

In a joint statement issued here, the office-bearers of the CMWA, Baloch Khan Lashari, Latif Qureshi, Bangal Khan Mari, Shadi Khan Shahani and others, drew the attention of the minister for local bodies, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, and chief secretary K.B. Rind to the violation of tax schedule, especially in Dadu and Sanghar districts.

They alleged that the contractors were charging Rs30 per animal against Rs3 as notified in the government schedule.

They said that in connivance with police, the officials and the contractors were also harassing the cattle merchants and added that in order to hide their crime, the amount of tax was also not mentioned on the receipts.

The tax schedule had also not been displayed at the cattle markets.

They demanded that they should be protected against the excesses of the corrupt officials and the contractors and that the tax schedule should be displayed at the cattle markets.