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Donated tents being sold in Pakistan

     Islamabad: If newspaper reports are to be believed, an unscrupulous relief camp officer posted at the Race Course Park in Rawalpindi was found selling the tents donated by private individuals and organisations for the benefit of the quake- affected survivors. The camp had received 500 tents from Lahore a few days ago, and the said officer had already sold off nearly 400 tents at the rate of Rs 5500 per piece, reported the Dawn. Quoting Amara Saeed, a private individual involved in quake relief efforts, the paper said that she discovered that relief goods were available at the Race Course Park for the volunteers who intended to go to the quake-hit areas. Later, she learnt that tents were also up for sale there. She wanted to buy around 30 tents and sent her brother to inquire about the details. However, when her brother reported that an officer was selling tents, she got suspicious and alerted Col Asif who told her that should not be happening and he would look into the matter. When Ms Saeed's brother demanded a receipt for sale of the tents he was told by the officer that he had sold more than 400 tents so far and no one had asked for a receipt. However, on her brother's insistence, he said he could instead have the amount deposited into the account number of his superior officer at the Alfalah Bank branch, said the paper.

World events from the New York Times