Action against sugar mafia underway, says Shahzad Akbar

LAHORE: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has said that inquiry into sugar scandal is underway, ARY News reported on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference, Shahzad Akbar said that the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had decided to take action following a hike in sugar price, last year.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Burea (NAB) were tasked to investigate the scan, he added. “Not only sugar mills but the market forces also affect the sugar price.”

The sugar satta mafia was fixing the rates of the sugar in advance on WhatsApp, several documents have been attained by the government in this regard.

Akbar further told that transactions of Rs106 billion into 464 personal bank accounts were exposed while an amount of Rs32 crore was also seized. We cannot leave the masses at the mercy of the sugar satta mafia, he asserted.

Read more: FIA summons 40 persons involved in sugar satta dealings

He said they had reports that sugar prices were to be jacked up to 25pc during the Holy month of Razaman.

The adviser said seven to eight people are controlling the sugar mills.

On Wednesday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed two FIRs against Jahangir Tareen and two other family members in sugar scandal and money laundering charges.

FIA Lahore registered cases against CEO of JWD Sugar Mills, Jahangir Tareen, his son Ali Tareen and his son-in-law in the sugar scam.