HYDERABAD, Sept 16: The Chakki Owners Social Welfare Association has accused the deputy-director food of a conspiracy to destabilize prices of wheat flour by reducing the wheat quota.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Thursday, the president of the association, Nawab Ali, general-secretary Mohammad Hafeez and vice-president Mohammad Rafiq said that prices of wheat flour had increased to Rs15 and Rs16 per kg because they were forced to purchase wheat from the open market.

They claimed the wheat quota of the entire district for August was reduced by 20,000 bags against which they had protested. They said the deputy-director, Hyderabad, had reduced the wheat quota for September by 40,000 bags under a conspiracy.

They said they were meeting the requirement of flour by purchasing wheat from the open market. They said the wheat quota of the city used to be between 100,000 and 140,000 bags as a result flour was available to every one at reasonable rates.

They regretted that the quota of 236 chakkis of the district had been reduced to 60,000 bags. Replying to a question, they said more wheat quota was being provided to roller flour mills for obvious reasons.

Replying to another question, they said the wheat quota provided by the food department was hardly enough to keep the chakki operational for two hours a week. They said the price of wheat supplied by the government under the quota was Rs1,000 per bag.

DPSC CHIEF SUMMONED: A bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad, on Thursday summoned the chairman of the District Public Safety Commission for Sept 29. The order was passed on a petition filed by a businessman, Mohammad Rizwan.

The petitioner stated that one Altaf, employee of the Pakistan Oil Mills, owned by the DPSC chairman, had taken Rs35,000 from him last year and promised to return the amount soon.

He alleged that he was called by the accused in the mill, located in Liaquat Colony, on July 20, but, he added, he was apprehended by police under telephonic orders of the DPSC chief. He said he was released on July 21 with threats that if he again demanded the money from Altaf he would be implicated in a criminal case.