4 days ago
Massive wheat scam unearthed
Over Rs300 million worth of wheat has allegedly been embezzled from three procurement centres of the Punjab Food Department in Khanewal due to corruption, negligence and departmental apathy.
Despite early warnings and internal reports, senior officials reportedly failed to take timely action. After the matter became public, authorities have now hinted at launching a formal inquiry.
According to official sources, significant quantities of wheat have been misappropriated from three storage centers: 23,000 bags from Sardarpur Center, 27,000 bags from Kot Islam Center, and 13,000 bags from Bhatta Kot Center.
During departmental checks prompted by public complaints, wheat bags worth more than Rs300 million were found damaged and decomposed.
In some storage rooms, the wheat had turned completely black, and in certain piles of soil within the warehouses, wheat grains had even started to sprout.
A sensitive intelligence agency in Punjab has identified three food centres in Khanewal and five in Multan where thousands of wheat bags have been misappropriated, and in some cases, the wheat has turned black.
The agency has reported to the Punjab government that wheat worth Rs500 to Rs600 million has either been embezzled or spoiled.
According to the report, when the Director in Multan exerted pressure on an inspector of one of the food centres, the inspector passed away, as he was facing a liability of Rs350 million in recovery.
The food inspectors responsible during the time of the irregularities were: Malik Qasim and Ghazanfar Bhutta at Kot Islam Centre; Hasnain Siddiqui at Sardarpur Centre; and Rana Muhammad Sarwar at Bhatta Kot Centre.
Sources fear that in addition to the negligence, a large quantity of good-quality wheat may have been sold in the open market, and blackened, unusable wheat mixed with soil was placed in the bags to cover up the theft.
The wheat in question was procured in 2023 at the official rate of Rs3,900 per 40 kilogrammes.
Despite being aware of the situation, the Deputy Director of Food Multan and the District Food Controller of Khanewal reportedly took no meaningful steps to address the issue.
District Food Controller Muhammad Sufyan, when contacted for comment, acknowledged that some wheat had indeed spoiled. He attributed the spoilage to the ineffectiveness of the chemical treatment used for preservation. He claimed that an investigation into the matter is currently underway.
