BAHAWALPUR, May 18: A special team, headed by District Food Controller Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, recovered on Tuesday 3,350 illegally hoarded wheat bags worth over Rs3 million.

The DFC told Dawn that the first raid was conducted at Ahmad Bakhsh's godown at Mauza Goth Raza near Channigoth, about 60 kilometres from here. The team recovered 1,550 bags of wheat and got a case registered against the hoarder with Channigoth police station. The seized stock was shifted to the government's procurement centres, he added.

The second raid was conducted along with judicial magistrate at Mauza Khanqah Sharif, about 10 kilometres from here, where 1,800 bags of wheat were recovered from Khalid Basra.

A complaint was lodged with the police against Khalid and his servant Manzoor, who was later arrested by police. The DFC said the godown was sealed. Meanwhile, the local food department took stock of wheat lying with the flour mills, which have stopped grinding for the time being.

It is learnt that most of the flour mills in the Bahawalpur division have been converted into makeshift godowns. The owners of these mills are allegedly preparing fake statements to be submitted to the food department in case of any surprise checking.

Besides checking stocks of wheat, the department will also ask the millers to submit their returns regarding the grinding progress and the purchase of wheat during the last month.

The measure has been necessitated following reports that most of the flour mills have stopped functioning in the district to stock wheat that will fetch higher price after some time.

The mills found suspending the wheat grinding may be blacklisted and their quotas cancelled in future. According to reports, the mills have already purchased wheat in quantity in the last one and-a-half month after issuance of licences by the government.

POWER TRIPPINGS: Electricity consumers have criticized Mepco's local offices for failing to stop frequent power trippings in the last couple of days. Hundreds of people in over 20 residential areas faced a great deal of inconvenience due to power breakdown on Tuesday afternoon.

When contacted, the Mepco complaint office failed to satisfy the consumers, who demanded relief from the higher-ups in severe weather.