QUETTA: Baluchistan based traders (Laghri Teehad and Rozgar Committee) have approached Base Commander Pak army Chaman and Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) complaining staff of Customs Preventive Quetta was selling the seized goods into the market for their own benefit, thus depriving the traders (owners of seized goods) of the opportunity to claim their goods back.
In separate lettes to Pak Army Base Command FTO, Muhammad Hasan s/o Haji Dad, a trader, noted that large quantity of goods were seized by Army and FC in Chaman, which were handed over to Customs Preventive Quetta. “But these goods were loaded in wagons and taken to markets for open sale under the supervision of Customs Agent Muhammad Ilyas.”
He noted that the traders caught Agent Muhammad Ilyas with a wagon load of seized goods coming out of Custom House Chaman.
Muhammad Hasan, also an office bearer of Laghri Ittehad District Chaman, noted in the letters that the goods seized by Army and FC must not be handed over to Customs Preventive Quetta. Instead these goods can be handed over to I&I Quetta till the settlement of the case. Muhammad Hasan claimed that Customs Preventive Quetta was involved in stealing the seized goods and selling the same openly in the market.
He said Customs authorities had not conducted any auction of seized goods in the last four months. He said the owner of the goods has the first right of refusal, but there is no auction of seized goods.
He maintained that certain Preventive Quetta officers were even involved in selling banned goods in the market through their agents posing serious risk to human health.
He urged FTO to investigate the record of goods seized by Army and FC and the same were handed over to Customs Preventive in the last two years. He said the record of these goods was also available with Army and FC, and the inventory available with Customs can easily be reconciled to know the facts. Similar letter was also dispatched to Corps Commander Baluchistan by Laghri Ittehad District Chaman.
Following the compaints, FTO Asif Mehmood Jah sought an explanation from Customs Preventive Quetta to which Customs Preventive Quetta denied all allegations in the complaint letters saying Laghri Ittehad was merely an association of smugglers with no specific grievance or locus standi.
Muhammad Hasan said Customs Quetta had illegally suspended the auction of goods since last five months, and officers/officials and their associates were blackmailing him and threatening him to withdraw the complaints.