Sindh food officials jailed over Rs1.1 billion wheat embezzlement
Sindh Food Minister Makhdoom Mehboob uz Zaman also announced dismissals, forced retirements and demotions for other food department officials and staff.
Three more Sindh food department officials were sent to jail in Larkana on Wednesday over alleged wheat embezzlement worth Rs1.1 billion, anti-corruption police said, Sindh Anti-Corruption police said, ARY News reported.
The three officials' bail pleas were rejected in two cases of wheat embezzlement, after which police took them into custody and transferred them to jail.
Police said the accused are alleged to have caused government wheat worth Rs1.1 billion to go missing.
Sindh Food Minister Makhdoom Mehboob uz Zaman separately announced punishments for officials over the embezzlement of government wheat and other irregularities in the food department.
Two food officers and staff were dismissed from service, while former DFC Tharparkar Abdul Sattar Memon was compulsorily retired.
Krishan Lal, in-charge of the PRC in Mithi, was dismissed over the wheat embezzlement, and Arif Hussain Abro, in-charge of the PRC in Badh, Larkana, was also removed from service.
Food supervisor Talib Hussain Chana was dismissed for illegally distributing gunny bags, and Assistant Food Controller Ghulam Farooq Kalhari was compulsorily retired.
Assistant Food Controller Abdul Jabbar Memon was demoted for three years, and senior clerk Muhammad Ashraf Arain at the DFC office in Tharparkar had one annual increment withheld.
Mehboob uz Zaman said anti-corruption action would be taken against the officials involved in the irregularities.
He also said the money lost through the embezzlement of government wheat would be recovered.
The minister said accountability in the food department would be ensured to protect government resources and promote transparency.
The food department is responsible for government wheat stocks in the province, and the minister said the accountability process would continue.
