Taking a sudden U-turn on Saturday, the Punjab government stopped crackdown against sugar mills and hoarders for the 'time being' to give them a chance to bring the stocks in the open market.
"The police have been directed not to carry out raids at the private godowns and sugar mills 'till further orders'," a high-ranking police officer disclosed on Saturday, requesting his name not be mentioned. Not even a single bag of sugar has been recovered from Multan on Sunday and no raid has been carried out at the hoarders' godowns as the crackdown has been stopped, he added. Sources in the Punjab government revealed that the decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting held here on Saturday. "The government has asked the sugar dealers to declare sugar stocks available with them and bring the commodity in the market to avoid arrests and raids," Secretary Food Punjab Irfan Elahi said, when contacted.
However, he warned that the dealers who did not declare the sugar stocks and tried to stash it would be arrested and their stocks would be confiscated. He further informed that the government agencies are closely monitoring the supply-trucks of sugar mills to check hoardings. "We will also closely monitor the transportation of sugar," he maintained. Sources said that heavy police contingents and officials of district government stopped the trucks of sugar mills in Phalia area, carrying hundreds of thousands of sugar bags on Saturday.
However, the trucks were released after a phone-call of any high up. "The Commissioner Multan Syed Muhammad Ali Gardezi can tell details about this incident and you can contact him," the Secretary Food Punjab told this reporter, when contacted. The Commissioner was not available for his comment when contacted again.
Meanwhile, on early Saturday the law enforcing agencies continued crackdown against the hoarders of sugar stocks across the Punjab and seized thousands tons of white refined sugar. There is no shortage of sugar in the Punjab as at least 199,000 metric tonnes of sugar is present in various godowns across the province, Punjab Food Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran said Saturday. He said Punjab government was holding negotiations with the representatives of Sugar Mills Association, persuading them to release their stocks to help ease the prices.
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