DERA GHAZI KHAN: A government food inspector has fled his post and is suspected of being involved in a major embezzlement case.

The district food controller (DFC) of Dera Ghazi Khan has asked the regional director of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to intervene regarding the wheat purchase centre at ‘Shadan Loond’.

The issue came to light after the new DFC took charge on Jan 19, 2026, and formed a team to monitor the transparent release of wheat stocks from the centre. The monitoring team reported on Jan 23 that Centre In-charge Rana Ghulam Murtaza, a food grains inspector from Gujranwala, had absconded from his official duties.

According to the findings, he has allegedly taken the entire official record of the centre with him and it includes documents pertaining to wheat stocks, articles and bardana. The authorities state that the removal of this vital paperwork is a deliberate attempt to obstruct the audit and physical verification process.

It was further reported that Murtaza had been running the centre’s affairs through a private individual, Imtiaz.

Officials estimate that 700 metric tonnes of wheat, along with bardana and other stock articles worth millions of rupees, may have been embezzled. The exact financial loss to the national exchequer cannot be fully determined until the missing official records are recovered.

The DFC’s letter has requested the registration of an FIR against the officer, arrest and recovery of the official record to ascertain the full scale of the damage. In another case, the officials apprehended a group involved in the adulteration of government wheat stocks with mud in DG Khan.

The raid was conducted by the district food controller (DFC) of Dera Ghazi Khan alongside the revenue officer Dera Ghazi Khan, and teams from Pera and the PRC.

During the raid, the team caught the centre in-charge, Ben Yamin, an assistant food controller (AFC), and Food Inspector Naeemul Hassan red-handed. They were found mixing mud into the official wheat stock alongside nine private individuals, identified as Muhammad Shahid, Majid Ahmed, Shoaib Ijaz Khan, Jahangir, Shakeel, Ghulam Yasin, Nazir Ahmed and Muhammad Bilal. Ben Yamin (AFC) was detained by Pera inside the centre’s office. However, the officer managed to escape from custody. Food Inspector Naeemul Hassan and the nine other suspects were arrested on the spot and transferred to the Civil Lines Police Station.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2026