KOHAT/BAJAUR: A duty magistrate on Sunday sent three flour dealers to prison for seven days and also fined them Rs200,000 each for selling the government’s free wheat flour after changing their packaging in Ustarzai union council of Kohat.

Assistant commissioner Usman Ashraf told Dawn that a large number of flour bags meant for free distribution was seized during a raid. He said the sacks of the free flour bags had been changed, and the dealers were charging people Rs2,900 for a 20kg bag.

Mr Ashraf said the accused, Asad Raza, Mazhar Ali and Mohammad Hasnain, were arrested along with a truck.

The Ustarzai police said the flour dealers were presented before the duty magistrate, who sentenced them to seven days imprisonment.

In Bajaur, deputy commissioner Mohammad Anwarul Haq on Sunday directed the management of local flour mills to maintain quality of the government’s free wheat flour.

He issued the directives during a visit to mills to check the quality and quantity of wheat flour following public complaints about substandard commodity being milled locally, according to a statement.

Mr Haq inspected the quality of wheat flour, and directed the owners of the mills to strictly maintain the flour quality and quantity as set by the government.

The deputy commissioner warned his administration would seal the mills and cancel their licences if they were found milling low quality flour.

Meanwhile, assistant commissioner, Nawagai, Adil Ahmad Sattar on Sunday sealed a bakery shop in Gataki area of Mamond tehsil for using substandard ghee and not maintaining hygiene, according to a statement.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2023