Action against illicit cigarette manufacturer demanded

Islamabad : Activists from Peoples Lawyers Forum (PLF) and Peoples Students Federation (PSF) have demanded Azad Kashmir government to constitute a judicial commission to probe into money trail of an illicit cigarette manufacturing company in the area.

Addressing a press conference, Peoples Lawyers Forum and PSF’s leaders Ali Raza, Majid Awan and Kaleem Qureshi presented a three point demand to the government, demanding action against the tobacco company.

They threatened to observe a hunger strike in front of the AJK assembly in first week of November if their demands were not met.

The activists said that three of the four shareholders in the tobacco company were from Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. They also pointed out some videos of blackmailing the police and administration.

They also demanded the AJK prime minister to clarify about reports of his investment in the illicit company, adding that the accused was using photos of advocate general and former chief justice AJK on the social media to give an impression as if he was untouchable.

They said that two vehicles of the company were already seized for carrying contrabands including 730 cartons of illicit cigarettes, leading to tax evasion of around Rs15.4 million.

The activists said that illicit cigarette manufacturing was in full swing in Rawani without the official NOC [no objection certificate], while the government has yet to initiate action against it.

They threatened to observe a hunger strike in front of the AJK legislative assembly in first week of November if their demands were not met.