SAHIWAL: The Regional Tax Office (RTO) destroyed 40 million non-duty-paid cigarette sticks, packed in over 200,000 packets, with a total market value of Rs506 million, at Khokhar Chowk on Faisalabad Road on Tuesday.

Chief Commissioner Karamat Chaudhry, who supervised the operation, said the destroyed cigarettes carried a pre-tax value of Rs204m, averting an additional Rs224m in Federal Excise Duty and Rs77m in Sales Tax.

“Thus, the total national loss [caused by these cigarettes] amounted to approximately Rs506m,” he added.

The event was attended by representatives of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Excise & Taxation Department, Punjab Police, Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), district administration, and members of Sahiwal Tax Bar.

The non-duty-paid cigarettes were recovered by a separate wing of RTO, Zonal Office, called, “Iron Squad”.

RTO Commissioner Fahim Sikander stated that two “Iron Squads” recovered the illegal cigarettes over the past nine months from four districts — Okara, Pakpattan, Vehari and Sahiwal.

The chief commissioner urged people to cooperate with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in eliminating non-duty-paid and illicit cigarettes.

Additional Commissioner Umer Zeb emphasized the importance of inter-agency cooperation in enforcing tax laws and safeguarding the national economy.

BABY RABBITS SAVED: Rescuers 1122 saved more than two dozen baby rabbits after a fire broke out in a wooden cage due to a short circuit in Mohalla Farid Nagar, Pakpattan.

The blaze quickly engulfed the cage, trapping the baby rabbits inside, while the grown ups rushed out of the cage.

A Rescue 1122 team, called to the scene, extinguished the fire within 10 minutes and later provided first aid to the rabbits and their offspring, which suffered minor burns.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2026