MIANWALI, April 7: The Allama Iqbal Open University's students have alleged that a local bank has fleeced them by charging Rs20 to Rs25 extra for each bank draft.

On Monday, the last day for depositing admission fees with a National Bank of Pakistan branch, scores of students queued up outside the bank on the Kutchery Road. They complained that the bank was issuing them a Rs100 draft for at least Rs120.

Many students, who could not reach the university's deposit window, went to commercial banks to get bank drafts because the university has allowed them to deposit fees either in the authorized branches of the NBP or sent those through drafts.

When contacted, Nasrullah Khan, manager of the branch, said this was the only branch in a 50-kilometre radius and students from far-off places came here to deposit fees at the eleventh hour. He said the bank could not entertain the 28,000 students during the last dates.

He added that the AIOU should authorize the NBP's tehsil branches as well to receive admission fees. He said the bank charged Rs20 extra for each draft as its commission.

It is pertinent to mention that during the fall 2003 semester more than 28,000 students had deposited their fees for different courses in Mianwali and its adjoining districts. The students have appealed to the AIOU vice-chancellor, Dr Syed Altaf Husain, to authorize post offices to receive their admission fees.

RECOVERED: Police claimed on Wednesday to have recovered the businessman who was kidnapped allegedly for ransom by four people some 28 days ago. Mohammad Farooq, a resident of Ban Hafiz Jee, was kidnapped from a bus stop by four car-riders who later demanded a heavy amount as ransom for his release. On a tip off, a police party recovered the businessman from the Musakhel hills. However, the kidnappers managed to escape from the scene.