STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD Referencing reports by the Federal Investigation Agency regarding the sugar and wheat crises in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that he was waiting for the detailed forensic report before taking action which will come out on April 25. “After these reports come out, no powerful lobby will be able to profiteer at the expense of our public,” he said via a tweet. On Saturday, two reports on the sugar and wheat crises in the country were made public, exposing ruling PTI’s bigwig Jahangir Tareen and allied parties’ leaders Federal Minister for Food Security Khusro Bakhtiar, Monis Elahi of PML-Q and their relatives as being involved in the scam. The reports were made public on the directives of the premier who, according to Special Assistant on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar, had ordered stern action against those found involved in the crises “irrespective of their status and party affiliation”. A source says that the prime minister and members of the inquiry commission had been ‘threatened with dire consequences if the reports were made public’. Taking to Twitter, the prime minister said that he had finally fulfilled the promise made to the people. “As promised, preliminary reports into [the] sudden price hikes of sugar and wheat have been released without alteration/tampering. This is unprecedented in Pakistan’s history,” he said. He added that previous political leaderships lacked the courage to release such information due to their “vested interests and compromises”. The prime minister had constituted two high-powered committees headed by the director-general of the FIA and comprising a senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau and the director-general of the Anti-Corruption Establishment of Punjab to investigate the causes behind the shortage and price hike of the two commodities. After the formation of the committees, the prime minister had repeatedly resolved to expose and penalise those found responsible for the sugar and wheat crises to avoid the recurrence of such acts. In its 32-page report, the committee on sugar price hike termed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government’s decision to allow export of sugar unjustified as it caused a 30% increase in its price. “The exporters of sugar gained benefit in two ways: first they were able to gain subsidy and secondly, they made profit from the increasing sugar prices in the local market,” according to the inquiry committee, led by the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency. The committee report revealed that PTI’s former secretary general Jahangir Khan Tareen and Federal Minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar were among the main beneficiaries.
