MUZAFFARGARH: The police registered a case against the general manager of the Sheikhu Sugar Mills and three other brokers on Tuesday under the Sugary Factory Act and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for cheating cane growers in payments.

Adviser to the Chief Minister MPA Abdul Haye Dasti with MPA Niaz Gashkori and members of the deputy commissioner team raided the Sheikhu Sugar Mills late on Monday and found brokers Ghulam Raza, Ghulam Murtaza and Mohammad Saleem bargaining with general manager Shafqat to sell cane procurement receipts (CPRs) of farmers at Rs168 per 40 kilo.

Teams got brokers arrested while the general manager fled the scene. The Sanawan police seized dozens of CPRs from the arrested brokers. The Punjab government has banned the entry of brokers to sugar mills.

MPAs Gashkori and Dasti informed Deputy Commissioner Dr Ehtasham Anwar about underhand deals. On his orders, Kot Addu Assistant Commissioner Jam Aftab with MPAs raided the mills.

Mr Dasti told Dawn he would raid other sugar mills as well. He said mills administrations were involved in dealing with cane growers through brokers who bought CPRs from farmers at low rates and later sold them to the mills administration. This is the first case against the officials of a mill.

Earlier, the district administration has got registered dozens of cases against private weighing scale owners.

Also, MPA Khurram Sohail Leghari said he got registered a case against the owners of Ashraf Sugar Mills in Bahawalpur on the complaints of farmers.

Deputy Commissioner Anwar said the Tandlianwala Sugar Mills was paying cash to the farmers as per schedule. Mills chief accountant Mohammad Yunis Javed said they cleared payments of December buying to farmers through bank.

BODY: A police official was found dead in his car at Jhang Mor late on Monday.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Syed Jalil Bukhari was posted in Multan. On Monday night, some passersby found him motionless in the car.

The deceased was the brother of Syed Jameel Bukhari, union council chairman, and cousin of Deputy Superintendent of Police Riaz Shah Bukhari.

District Police Officer Imran Kishwar visited the spot and made a team to look into the matter. The body was shifted to the mortuary for postmortem.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2019