LAHORE: The PML-N has said the Ittefaq Sugar Mills in Sahiwal is owned by the Shafi family and it has nothing to do with the Sharif family. The Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) recently retrieved 36 kanals allegedly encroached upon by the mills.

According to the ACE, Ittefaq Sugar Mills encroached upon 36 state kanals and made part of it in 1982. However, it (mills) shifted its machinery to Rahim Yar Khan to set up another sugar mills which was lately stopped by the Supreme Court.

The PML-N in a statement issued here on Monday said: “Ittefaq Sugar Mills in Sahiwal is owned and controlled by the Shafi family (relatives of Sharifs ) and it has nothing to do with the Sharif family. The Sharif family is neither owner or beneficiary of the said mill. The Shafi family has been in ownership and control of Ittefaq Sugar Mill since 1988-89.”

The party said the Shafi family were cousins of the Sharif family and were not considered to be part of it (Sharif family). “Sharif Family has no stakes in the said mill at all,” it added.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2019