MULTAN City News

Man killed by in-laws for ‘honour’

From Our Correspondent

MULTAN: A man was killed by his in-laws for honour here.

According police, Malik Muhammad Irshad, 25, a resident of Ashraf Town, Burewala, had contracted love marriage with Musarrat Riaz about a year. After the marriage, the couple shifted to another city. Musarrat’s ties with her family were severed after the marriage and they failed in tracing her. Last week, Irshad came to see his parents. On Friday night, Irshad was passing through a bazaar in Burewala town when his father-in-law Riaz Hussain Khichi and brothers-in-law Bilal Riaz and Kashif Abdullah allegedly killed with the blows of a sharp-edged weapon. Burewala Model Town police have registered a case under Sections 302/34 on the complaint of deceased’s brother Amanat Ali and started investigation. When contacted, Model Town police Muharrar Saifullah said that no arrest had been made. He, however, said that police teams were conducting raids to arrest the accused.

TAX COMMISSIONER: The audit and inspection wing is being established in the Federal Board of Revenue to purge the department of bad reputed elements and corruption, said Multan Region Tax Office Commissioner Salim Raza Asif.

Addressing the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Saturday, he said that there was no room for highhandedness and harassment in the department. He said that meetings of an advisory committee comprising representatives of the MCCI and the Regional Tax Office (RTO) would be regularised after Eid to facilitate taxpayers and to improve tax revenue. He said that the committee should hold monthly meetings to analyse development and address problems of the businessmen. He said that the RTO in collaboration with the MCCI wanted to resolve the issues of manufacturers, industrialists and professionals amicably to facilitate them for tax compliance. He assured that all refund claims would be paid in the next financial year. He said that the MCCI would be taken on board for addressing the business community concerns regarding tax matters. He said that honest officers had been appointed in the RTO, Multan, and they had been instructed to deal with the taxpayers courteously to ensure their dignity. He said that if any tax officer found involved in corruption, he would not be spared.

Saleem Raza Asif said that tax refund matters were being streamlined with automation of system and refund cases would now be disposed of in 45 days. He said that the government was committed to improve tax-to-GDP ratio to 10.2 per cent as without tax revenue, no country could grow and develop. He said that many registered taxpayers in the Multan region were not filing tax returns and emphasised that the MCCI should play its positive role in this regard. He said that the MCCI should help FBR in identifying new taxpayers to improve tax revenue.

Earlier, in his welcome address, MCCI president Fareed Mughis Sheikh said that the businessmen regularly paid tax to strengthen the economy and were ready to collaborate with the FBR for enhancing tax-to-GDP ratio. He, however, stressed that the government should ensure transparent utilisation of tax revenue. He said that the government should develop a fair taxation system as the current tax system was quite discriminatory. Despite energy crisis and other problems, the industry was contributing 66 per cent share to the tax revenue while its share in GDP was just 26 per cent, he added.

He said that agriculture with 21 per cent share in GDP was paying less than 1 per cent as tax. He said that all exemptions should be eliminated and every taxable income should be brought into the tax net to improve tax revenue of the country. He said that self-assessment scheme of the FBR had helped in improving tax revenue.