MIRPURKHAS: Truck­loads of garbage was thrown right in front of the main gate of the inland revenue department office and its water supply connection was also disconnected on Wednesday apparently in reaction to deduction of Rs2.9 million excise tax dues from the committee’s bank account in Sindh Bank.

Iftikhar Ahmed, an official at the revenue office, told Dawn it was not the first time the municipal committee had reacted in this manner. The municipal officials had acted in a similar manner a few years’ ago when a revenue officer had seized the committee’s bank account for recovery of income tax dues, he said.

He said that again, inland revenue officer, Ashok Kumar Chanchlani, was forced to move into action against the committee after receiving directives from higher authorities and issued a letter to the manager of the Sindh Bank’s Mirpurkhas branch on Nov 12, asking him to seize the bank account and deduct the Rs2.9 million dues.

He said that no committee official approached the revenue officer during this period neither made any contact with commissioner of inland revenue Hyderabad to settle the issue.

As a result, the bank manager deducted the dues by preparing a draft under the law that was later handed over to revenue officials. Immediately afterwards, the committee officials disconnected water supply connection of the office and brought tractor-trolleys loaded with garbage and litter and threw them outside the main gate of the office, he said.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2014