MULTAN, Feb 5: Rajanpur City police have registered a case against political assistant Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam for sedition and criminal breach of trust.

On the report of Rajanpur district coordination officer Samiullah Abid, the police on Wednesday registered the case under sections 409 and 124-A PPC. Although Chaudhry Aslam has been lodged at the City police station, his formal arrest is yet to be put on record.

Chaudhry Aslam had left Rajanpur on Sunday last for Dera Bugti where he tried to meet Nawab Akbar Bugti, but failed. He told the Dera Bugti administration that he had been humiliated by DCO Samiullah Abid and the rangers colonel posted at Mazari Goth to protect Sui gas pipelines. Reportedly, he sought asylum in Dera Bugti which was denied to him and the officer belonging to the provincial civil service was deported on Monday.

Initially, sources said, he was interrogated by a federal investigation agency and later he was confined to the official residence of Rajanpur DSP (headquarters). At the DSP’s house, Chaudhry Aslam was administrated tranquillisers because doctors diagnosed him as under mental stress. On Tuesday night, he was shifted to the City police station.

tax collection: Traders have announced that they would resist ‘every government move’ to collect income tax on the basis of survey forms.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Chamber of Small Traders vowed to ‘fight for their survival’ against unjust taxation by various tiers of the government like federal, provincial and local.

Chamber president Khalid Mahmood Qureshi said on the one hand the business was falling due to recession and, on the other, the official tax machinery was putting the business community under pressure.

He claimed that the small traders were even unable to pay utility bills. But, they were hard-pressed to pay more than a dozen levies of federal, provincial and local governments.

He warned the government of devastating results if the government opted to employ state oppression to collect irrational levies.

Mr Qureshi accused the tax collectors of corruption and root cause for the failure of tax system in the country.

Criticizing provincial Excise Minister Dr Shafiq Ahmad, he said he had assured a traders delegation from Multan that the old system of property tax collection would be restored to do away with anomalous new system. But now he was stressing on the continuity of the new system.

“The contradiction in his words and action is unbecoming for a person holding such a high public office,” he concluded.