FAISALABAD, Nov 29: Business activities in the local cotton yarn market remained dull on the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, as the case of ‘bankruptcy’ and disappearance with a hefty amount of a yarn dealer remained unresolved.

Information gathered about suspect Shahzad Ahmad Qasoori by this correspondent reveals that he started his business in 1990 with the help of his uncle, Muhammad Afzal Qasoori, a former vice-chairman of the Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association. Soon the business took rapid strides.

Some of the major parties like Sheikh Farooq Allahwala and Sarfraz Iqbal joined hands with Shahzad and they developed a vast network of placing orders for the sale and purchase of yarn and cloth.

In 2003, Shahzad also engaged his brother Sohail Qasoori in the business and succeeded in getting associated with 100 parties of the yarn market. He constructed a bungalow, purchased costly vehicles and adopted a princely lifestyle.

Till August 2005, Shahzad was running his business normally and placing orders in routine. In the first week of November, however, he disappeared from the scene without paying dues to 96 parties, including 51 major business partners. He collected over Rs150 million of the market and declared himself a bankrupt,” reveals the information.

The PYMA office-holders adopted a novel strategy and decided to deal with the case on their own without involving the police or any other law-enforcement agency. They constituted a reconciliation committee, which claims to have got possession of Shahzad’s some of the landed property and yarn and cloth lying in his godown.

Sources in the market claim that the amount collected from the ‘seized valuables’ would be distributed among the big parties while over 70 small dealers and commission agents would bear the brunt of the situation.

Meanwhile, it has been observed that owing to the transactions through chits instead of cheques, the yarn market has become a place where any one can disappear after collecting hard-earned money of the people.

On Tuesday, the major yarn dealers and cloth merchants stayed away from the transactions and stepped efforts for the resolution of the issue.