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Crackdown against bara markets from April 14

ISLAMABAD: The Chairman, Central Board of Revenue (CBR), Riaz Hussain Naqvi, on Wednesday said a plan of action on bara markets has been finalised and it would be implemented with the consultation of the provinces after April 14.

He told a meeting held with the Interior Secretary Hassan Raza Pasha in the chair, to review arrangements to check the menace of smuggling and sale of smuggled goods in various bara markets of the country.

The meeting was apprised that the government had already announced three-month relaxation to those involved in such business and get legitimise the available smuggled goods after paying the due amount of duties and taxes, within the stipulated time.

This relaxation will expire on April 14, and afterwards a crackdown against those elements involved in this illegal business would be launched in a comprehensive manner, the meeting was told.

The meeting decided to put in place the mechanism to ensure effective action against all those who would be found involved in the unauthorised business after the expiry of the deadline.

It is for the first time that the matter has been taken up seriously, to check such illegal practices, which have been causing a serious dent to the national economy.

The meeting also discussed thread-bare a number of other steps to check the menace including, intensifying vigilance along the country's borders, arresting the big smugglers, restrengthening of the existing laws besides their implementation in letter and spirit.

It is learnt that almost in every big city of the country the smuggled goods are being openly offered for sale, of them major markets are at Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, and Multan. APP