Afghanistan jail: APOTA seeks government help in Pakistani driver's release

All Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association (APOTA) wants the government to make diplomatic efforts to get a Pakistani driver released from Afghanistan jail, whom the Afghan police had arrested a year ago in Laghman province. "Imran Ali s/o Liquate Ali who is Afghanistan jail for the last one year for the oil tanker he was driving overturned on a two vehicles - one of them was the police van because the bridge road was uneven and broken," said the spokesman of APOTA Saleh Afridi.
He said the Afghanistan police was demanding huge bribe for his release from their custody, which now had entered the second year, despite the driver was innocent. He said Imran Ali belonged to Sialkot city of Punjab province and his family and the association both were upset about his being inmate in the neighbouring country.
"The oil tanker bearing licences number 'SWN 099' was supplying oil to Baghram, Afghanistan from Karachi and somewhere in Laghman province it turned upside-down over the two vehicles," he said, adding the driver was since in the police custody. Afridi said neither the Nato forces authority nor the fuel supplying contractors in either side of the border helped the captive driver return his motherland. He said the contractor-company also did not pay freight fare of Rs 0.7 million to the tanker owner-which he happened to be. He said the oil tanker caused him million of rupees financial loss.
"The government should help the driver come back Pakistan, besides pressurise the contractor of Nato fuel supplier to pay the compensation and freight fare of Rs 7 lakh to him without any further delay," demanded the APOTA spokesman. He said there were around 5,000 oil tankers were engaged in fuel supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan and each truck supplied around 52,000 litre of oil. "About 5,000 drivers and 5,000 helpers are working for the supplies, who are persistent life threat from hostile Taliban and other such anti-US elements with having no insurance cover to support families after their being hit," he pointed out.