April 28, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1429

KOHAT, April 27: The wheat quota meant for Kurram Agency flourmills is being smuggled to Afghanistan and sold in the agency at higher prices after being smuggled back, sources claimed here on Sunday.

Officials of the food department, carriage contractor and flourmill owners had been involved in the illegal trade for the last three-and-a-half months, they said, adding that the wheat had been sold illegally at Rs2,200 per 100-kg bag and was smuggled to Afghanistan, and then resold in Parachinar at Rs7,000 per bag. “The mills used to buy the wheat at Rs2,200 even when its official price was Rs1,210 per 100-kg bag. Thus the total income of the trio group involved in the racket from the smuggling is estimated at about Rs72 million in three months,” they said.

Orakzai flourmills get wheat for supplying flour to both the tribal areas and parts of Hangu district. But the intensity of flour crisis is lesser in Orakzai as compared to Kurram Agency as it shares no border with Afghanistan. Half of the quota -- 1,030 bags of 100-kg daily for Parachinar flour mills -- was being sold in the local market allegedly by the Hangu food department, whereas the carriage contractor, who was awarded contract for transporting wheat from Hangu godowns to Parachinar for Rs49 per bag, “falsely shows on the papers that the wheat had been received by the mills”.

In this way, at least 35,000 bags had been showed transported to Parachinar and bills had been passed by the divisional food controller for consignments which were actually sold in Hangu. “Thus the carriage company made illegal profit and caused a loss of Rs1.7 million to the government.”

An insider told Dawn that the carriage contractor had been making lame excuses of law and order situation for the non-delivery of consignments to Parachinar although it was possible under the security of army deputed there since April 2007.

But, astonishingly, Parachinar’s wheat quota is also missing from the food department godowns, which was a clear proof that the wheat had been sold somewhere else. At the same time, the three mills in Hangu and one in Orakzai Agency are being provided their quota of 1,240 bags of 100-kg flour daily for the last one year.

Meanwhile, the regional coordination officer, Kohat region, Omer Afridi, keeping in view the acute shortage and black marketing of flour in Kurram Agency, held a meeting with the flourmill owners of Hangu and directed the food department to issue the wheat stock from Kohat and immediately send it to Parachinar mills. But only seven trucks were taken to Parachinar and rest had been retained in Hangu.

The ‘gang’ is so influential that whenever an inquiry is ordered, it is stopped by ‘bribing’ the high officials, residents alleged. Sources also claimed that no official was ready to take charge of the Hangu food department from Assistant Food Controller Ashfaq Jan Bangash, as his replacement due to millions of ‘discrepancies’ in the stock registers. He is serving in the department for the last 22 years.