SARGODHA, July 19: Over three dozens small farmers of Bhalwal tehsil alleged on Friday that Irrigation and Power Department officials had registered false cases against 1,000 farmers to punish them for their complaints of water theft during the governor’s recent visit.

Led by Union Council 16 Nazim Mian Abdul Qadeer and UC-50 Nazim Muhammad Hayat Mehr, they told a press conference the cases against small farmers getting irrigation water from Rato Kala and Thathi Noor distributaries had been registered on the instigation of big farmers of the area.

Mr Qadeer alleged that Ziladar Sheikh Iqbal had collected Rs10,000 per outlet from the farmers getting water from 11 outlets. These, he said, included outlets 10926, 21500, 29807 and 29030. Nadeem, the sub-divisional officer, and Tariq Gujjar, the sub-engineer, he alleged, had received over Rs50,000 from farmers for not filing a case against them.

The farmers said they were willing to file affidavits in this regard. Saying, they could not go to their farms for fear of arrest, they demanded an impartial enquiry and stern action against water thieves and the officials implicating innocent farmers.