FAISALABAD, Oct 20: Special raiding teams of the district government on Wednesday challaned 63 shopkeepers and vendors and sent 16 others behind bars for selling consumer goods at higher rates.

The raiding teams, headed by special judicial magistrates, paid surprise visits to various localities and checked the rates and quality of consumer items, including fruits and vegetables.

They imposed thousands of rupees fine on the violators of the fixed prices and sent 16 of the sellers to jails after registering cases against them under the Price Control Act.

A raiding team, headed by magistrate Khalid Manzoor, arrested Naseer Ahmad, Jameel Ahmad, Muhammad Sarwar, Shakeel, Haneef, Zaman Khan, Nazir, Abdul Rauf, Shabbir, Akbar, Asghar, and Abdul Rehman at Samanabad for selling fruits and vegetables at rates higher than those fixed by the government.

Another raiding team, headed by magistrate Mohsin Rasheed, conducted surprise raids at Nighebanpura, Mahmoodabad, Chibban Road and other adjoining areas and challaned dozens of shopkeepers for not displaying price lists and overcharging.

Similar raids were also conducted at D-Type Colony, Gulistan Colony, Ghulam Muhammadabad, Mansoorabad and other city localities.