FAISLABAD:
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested six individuals, including four PASCO employees and one private broker, on charges of pilfering wheat and adulterating sacks with soil, officials said on Monday.
The operation was conducted at the PASCO warehouse in Tandlianwala, and the FIA has secured a five-day physical remand of the accused from the court.
According to the FIA, during the raid led by SHO FIA Faisalabad Ajmal Hussain Awan and his six-member team, nearly 2,000 sacks of wheat were found to be filled with soil instead of wheat, with an estimated value of Rs70 million.
The warehouse was reportedly supposed to store 18,000 wheat sacks, and verification of total stocks is ongoing.
No senior PASCO or Food Department official was present during the raid.
The accused taken into custody included Assistant Purchase Inspector Shamsher, chowkidar Suhail, chowkidar Ali Sher, and chowkidar Kashif.
FIA sources said the suspects had caused losses of tens of millions of rupees to the national treasury by adulterating and siphoning off wheat from government reserves.
Following information obtained from the suspects, FIA teams conducted a raid on a private warehouse in Okara, recovering 1,400 sacks of wheat that had allegedly been transferred from Tandlianwala.
The operation also led to the arrest of PASCO Zonal Head Okara Rao Tariq Mahmood and private broker Muhammad Mansha, who were interrogated regarding their involvement.
Investigators also recovered 1,000 empty burlap sacks from the private warehouse.
FIA officials said the arrested individuals had admitted to adulterating wheat with soil and siphoning off approximately 1,200 sacks, causing substantial financial losses to the national treasury.
The agency has widened the scope of its investigation and launched additional raids to apprehend other accomplices involved in the scheme.
