GUJRANWALA, June 23: The excise department announced on Saturday that a crackdown would be launched to recover professional tax from jewellers after talks between the two sides on the issue failed.

Jewellers’ representative Zulfiqar Ahmad said the excise department issued the jewellers notices to pay Rs12,000 each annually otherwise their shops would be sealed.

The excise department said Rs1,000 professional tax had been imposed on jewellers since 2000, but they were not paying it.

Now the department had issued notices to them to clear their all outstanding dues, but they were not ready to do so. Excise officer Afzal Goraya said the department would launch a crackdown on jewellers to recover the tax. Jewellers said they would put up resistance to excise department’s plan.

Also, excise officer Iftikhar Ahmad Bhalli denied that Ladheywala and Eminabad towns had been exempted from property tax and explained that former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi had announced this exemption at a public meeting, but no notification was issued in this regard. He said recovery of property tax from these two towns was under way and the excise department had sealed about 50 properties of defaulters in these towns.

ARRESTED: Aroop police claimed on Saturday to have arrested two men allegedly involved in theft of cable worth Rs80 million.

Police seized two cable-laden trucks on Sialkot Road near Nizampur and arrested two men. Police later released the accused when a senior officer of the Pakistan Telecom Company Limited said the cable was not PTCL property.

A man moved the district and sessions court and alleged that the police released the accused after receiving heavy amount from them. The court summoned Aroop SHO Imran Abbas Chadhar and told him to arrest the accused. In consequence, police arrested accused Zahid Mehmood and Aslam Pehalwan.

A cell phone company informed the district administration and the police that the cable belonged to it and it was stolen from Islamabad.

PROTESTERS HELD: Police arrested scores of people from Kamoki for torching a train, grid station and official vehicles during a protest against loadshedding a couple of days ago.

It is said that Kamoki’s City and Sadar police and Wazirabad railway police registered a case against 800 people for torching a train, grid station and official vehicles during their protest against loadshedding some days ago. Also, the sessions court was moved against arrests by the police.

The court summoned SHOs of City and Sadar police on June 27.

PROTEST: The district bar association on Saturday boycotted courts and protested against power loadshedding. Lawyers gathered in the bar room and protested against 18-22-hour loadshedding in the city and suburbs.—Correspondent