QUETTA, July 5: Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Mir Amanullah Notezai has denied allegations about his involvement in smuggling of vehicles from Afghanistan and said that such allegations were being levelled to defame him. Talking to Dawn by telephone from Karachi on Tuesday night, he also denied having received any letter from the federal interior ministry or the chief secretary of Balochistan regarding his involvement in the illegal activity.

Mir Notezai claimed that his opponents had launched a character assassination campaign against him to oust him from the local body elections and said that he was not worried about such ‘dirty allegations’ because people knew him well.

Replying to a question, the minister said that he was ready to investigate reports that irregularities were committed in his department and smuggled vehicles were registered.

He also said that he did not know either Jamil Khan or Mushtaq who had been accused of bringing vehicles from Afghanistan to Chaman and then taking them to his hometown of Dalbandin. He said he reserved the right to move the court against the baseless report.