Cleared under guise of diplomatic cargo: Huge quantity of liquor stolen from DI&I office

KARACHI: Substantial quantity of liquor imported and cleared under the guise of diplomatic cargo, have been stolen from the office of the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (DI&I), Karachi.

The consignment of 564 bottles of liquor was imported and cleared from Karachi port under the guise of diplomatic cargo in April 2020. After the refusal of the concerned consulate regarding its import, the DI&I, Karachi took the consignment of 564 bottles of liquor into custody for further legal action.

Sources said that the Directorate was supposed to transfer the confiscated goods into the state warehouse within the prescribed period, which was not more than 48 hours to issue show cause notice for further legal proceedings. However, in this case, the seized liquor consignment was not shifted to the state warehouse and remained in the Directorate for the last 16 months for no reason.

They said that DI&I officer Ejaz Khan, who detained the consignment of seized liquor, reported to the high-ups that out of 564 liquor bottles, 291 bottles were stolen. Later the FIR has been lodged in Tipu Sultan police station. According to the FIR, Ejaz Khan admitted that the said consignment of liquor was in his possession, raising serious mismanagement issues within the premises of the Directorate.

On the other hand, the security in charge of the Directorate in his letter wrote on July 7, 2021, expressed serious security concerns. In his letter, he informed that the security of office premises and as well as goods laying within premises without lawful authority would be at risk permanently in the absence of CCTV system.

The letter said that the section 169 (1), (2) and (3) of Customs Act, 1969 read with para 33 & 34 of CGO 12/2002 has envisaged the legal procedure for storage of seized and confiscated goods in the state warehouse and termed the placement of goods within office premises instead of state warehouse as an illegal act.

Furthermore, the security in-charge through his letter requested the authority concerned to issue necessary directives to the Directorate officers to remove all confiscated goods from the office premises and shift it to the state warehouse immediately along with the goods parked outside the office such as oil tankers, non-custom paid vehicles, etc.

The letter also informed that two containers loaded with cell phones and antique statues were also lying within office premises and the arms and ammunition of the directorate were also placed in the open guard room.

When contacted, Ejaz Khan, he appeared reluctant to comment on the issue. Meanwhile, when approached, Director, DI&I, Karachi Khalid Yousfani was also not available for comments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021