MIRPURKHAS, Feb 25: A food department officer, during a raid on two flour mills here on Wednesday, directed their owners not to transfer flour outside the Mirpurkhas region.

Following reports of wheat storage of in flour mills, the deputy director of food, Saleem Raza Khero, raided Chundija and Memon flour mills. He found 2,700 and 3,900 wheat bags stocks in their godowns, respectively, which had been privately purchased by the mill owners.

The deputy director issued show-cause notices to the mills. Later he told journalists that he had also impounded a truck, loaded with flour bags of Chundija Flour Mills, being transported to Hyderabad.

He said that about 14 check-posts of the food department had been set up in the district to check movement of flour from one taluka to another. He said that he had taken strict measures to control flour price in market and hoped that flour crisis would come to an end in March as more wheat would come in market then due to completion of wheat harvest season.

He said that in next week, wheat would be available in Mirpurkhas region for distribution among flour mills and 'chakki' owners according to their quota.

144 IMPOSED: District Nazim Shafqat Hussain Shah here on Wednesday under section 144, PPC, banned gathering of five or more persons, carrying of weapons, raising objectionable slogans, delivering provocative speeches, playing objectionable cassettes, etc in the district for seven days.

INVESTIGATION: A health department team, headed by the Sindh additional secretary, on Tuesday completed an investigation into deaths of 20 persons, majority of them children, caused by cerebral malaria in Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas.

THEFT: Thieves took away medicines worth Rs70,000 from a medical store here on Tuesday.