JHANG, Sept 25: Bus commuters travelling on the Multan-Sargodha via Jhang route are facing tremendous difficulty as Jhang police and district administration continue to impound buses belonging to Shalimar transport company owned by former Jhang tehsil nazim, Sheikh Muhammad Akram, a candidate for re-election to the same office, against PML nominee Sheikh Yaqoob.

A company spokesman told Dawn that four buses were stopped near More Mandi and impounded at the Qadirpur police station on Saturday evening.

Three buses are parked at the Aliabad police post. Four at Shorkot city police station and nine at the Jhang police lines. The passengers of all these buses had to face great inconvenience as they were asked to alight midway.

The vehicles were impounded on the charge of overspeeding.

Earlier a heavy contingent of Jhang police, on Friday, sealed the Shalimar transport company bus stand after getting it evacuated from the waiting passengers and staff members.

The bus stand is situated at Vicky hotel near Ayub Chowk. Sheikh Akram alleged in a press conference that Jhang district administration and police had launched this drive against his transport company and other business concerns to make him withdraw his candidature in favour of Sheikh Yaqoob.

He further said that apart from bringing his transport company to a virtual standstill, the food department, on the orders of the Jhang DCO, illegally sealed Farooq flour mills on Toba Road, Nawaz ghee mills and Fawad ghee mills, owned by him. He claimed that the department had issued show cause notices to these industrial units after shutting them down.

He said earlier the police escort provided to his son, MNA Sheikh Waqas Akram, was withdrawn by the Punjab government. “When my son brought the matter to the notice of the prime minister in a meeting with him in Islamabad, the PM promised to provide him security from the capital police.”

Sheikh Akram further added that he and his colleagues were being threatened with filing of references in NAB and anti-corruption establishment for the alleged malpractice committed by them during his tenure as Jhang tehsil nazim.

“A senior ACE official has been quite active on telephone in trying to persuade me to refrain from contesting the election against the official candidate.”

Akram Sheikh however expressed his resolve that no threats or incentives could deter him from contesting the election since he enjoyed the support of the majority of the councillors and nazims.

Former Shorkot tehsil nazim Madhu Lal Husain, also seeking a reelection, has also accused the Punjab government and Jhang district administration of pressurising him to withdraw against the official nominee for the slot, Khizar Hayat Kathia.

Mr Hussain has, in a statement, said that the administration was persistently harassing him to withdraw in favour of the PML candidate, or be prepared to face the special audit of the tehsil municipal records.

He said he was not likely to succumb to the threats as he had committed no malpractice. He stated that the government was adamant to impose a ‘tiny minority’ over the will and desire of an overwhelming majority of UC nazims and councillors of the tehsil.