BADIN:Tando Bago police, after registering an FIR, have arrested some people on the charges of ransacking and looting the truck loaded with the sacks of the fertilizers at the town.

The police nominated 50 known and many unknown miscreants under 395 and other sections of Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of ASI Rasool Bux Bhanbhro after the NLC truck loaded with around six hundred bags containing urea fertilizer was attacked, vandalized and plundered by some ‘enraged farmers’ in the heart of the town. The police have also booked fertilizer dealer Jay Parkash in another FIR, who had acquired the much-needed agriculture item. The heavy contingents of police during the overnight raids arrested 15 accused nominated in the FIR.

The angry mob led by some local PPP leaders attacked the NLC vehicle and took away the bags after beating its driver as soon as it arrived in the town with bags of urea as per the demand of the farming community.

The miscreants, who went berserk during the ugly episode, also snatched the mobile phone set from the local journalist Anwer Ali Abbasi, who reached the spot and tried to film the scenes. The snatched mobile phone set was returned to the media person on the interference of some PPP leaders on the promise that he would not file the story with footage of the pictures.

Haji Sain Bux Jamali, the district general of PPP Badin chapter, who is also the uncle of the prime accused in the FIR registered Jave Jamali talking to the media persons expressed his deep concern over the incident and distanced himself from the ugly act. Mr Jamali said that they were cooperating with the police in arresting the accused including his relatives.

Dilber Sindhi, Sikendar Ali Memon, Faisal Cheema, Ghulam Mohammad Halepoto and other leaders of Mirza Group, who took out the rally and staged the demonstration outside Tando Bago Press Club against the unavailability in the area of the fertilizers talking to the media, strongly condemned the incident and held the local PPP leaders for inciting his farmers and party workers to attack and plunder the bags.

They alleged that police instead of arresting the real culprits were making the reckless arrest of the poor adding they demanded stern actions from those who carried out the vandalism on the directions of influential figures associated with the ruling party. They alleged that the mismagent on the part of the officials of the Sindh government in the distribution of the urea had already caused enough damage to the Rabi crops.

They alleged that the officials, who had been assigned with the task to provide the fertilizers to the actual farmers were only supplying the consignments to the influential figures and poor farmers and growers had to run from pillar to the post to get the fertilizers for the crops, which badly needed the urea for their growth.

Here it is pertinent to mention that farmers have come on the roads in various big and small towns of the province against the unavailability of the required urea bags and the telemarketing of the hoarders under the very nose of the government officials.

The PPP leaders in their press statements often condemned the policies of Imran-led PTI government for the crisis in the country while the protesting farmers accused the dealers and government officials to deprive them of the supply of urea, as according to them, they were only trying to please the PPP leaders by providing them enough bags instead of distributing equally among the farming community.