The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, has assured a delegation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KPCCI) for taking up the matter of involvement of customs clearing and borders agents and referring their cases to accountability courts in Karachi with the Chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
He gave this assurance to a KPCCI delegation comprising senior vice president and chairman of Missing Containers Committee Arooj Ahmad Ansari, former KPCCI VP and Director of Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PAJCCI) Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, Farooq Ahmad, Qazi Zahid and Malik Niaz Mohammad Awan, which called on him in the FTO Office in Islamabad.
Talking to the FTO, Arooj Ahmad Ansari said that customs clearing and border agents were facing difficulties due to the Nato-ISAF containers scandal while Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi said that hundreds of customs clearing and border agents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chaman and Karachi used to attend fortnightly court proceedings without committing any crime, which not only inflicting additional expenses on them, but also have to bear severe mental torture.
He said the period (2007-2010) during which the scandal was reported the National Logistic Cell (NLC) and Pakistan Railways were responsible for the transportation of containers, but they were not included in the investigation and the responsibility was put only customs clearing and border agents. He demanded the inquiry of the scandal in right direction and appointment of impartial officers for this purpose to conduct impartial investigation.