24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, April 23: The NWFP government has failed to stop gambling on prize bond numbers despite the expiry of a deadline three days ago. Most of the outlets of prize bond numbers in Qissakhwani and Saddar markets have stopped displaying these numbers in their shops but these dealers continue to deal in the illegal business secretly, said a currency dealer.

Provincial Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Malik Zafar Azam had given 15-day deadline to all prize bond number dealers on April 5, warning them of legal action, including fine and imprisonment under the prevalent laws.

The federal government had banned the sale of prize bond numbers a few years ago but Peshawar might have been the only city in the country where these dealers continued to ply their trade with impunity, openly offering the people to stake their money on prize bond numbers.

A currency dealer, whose shop is surrounded by prize bond number dealers, told this correspondent on the condition of anonymity that these dealers had apparently changed their businesses, but they were still selling prize bond numbers to their old customers.

Many of them, he said, displayed some pedestal fans and other electronic appliances in their shops while a few of them had converted their shops into public call offices. But he questioned the logic of it saying when one has paid an advance of more than Rs200,000 for a shop and was paying a rent exceeding Rs10,000 a month, running a PCO was highly questionable.

Same views were expressed by other shopkeepers in Qissakhwani and Karimpura markets, where there are dozens of prize bond number outlets. They said that most foreign currency dealers were also dealing in prize bond numbers, selling numbers to their trusted customers and avoiding to deal with new ones.

These dealers' business, they said, was not confined to dealing in prize bond numbers but they also kept 'match-fixing' books, too. Currency dealers, contacted by this correspondent, said it was improbable for them to do any other business because of the extraordinary high level of profits, adding that prize bond number dealers skim off 15 per cent of the total sale of numbers without investing a single penny.

Police officials said that since the expiry of government deadline, Kabuli police had arrested three prize bond number dealers in the Qissakhwani Bazaar on Thursday while another one was arrested by Kotwali police from Karimpura.

Meanwhile, NWFP Law and Parliamentary Minister Malik Zafar Azam warned police officers of strict action if they failed to stop the illegal business in their respective jurisdictions. Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club, he said that the government had decided not to extend the deadline to stop the illegal business.