MULTAN: MNA Jamshed Dasti claimed on Sunday that 65 people were missing in the Ahmadpur East tanker blaze tragedy.

Mr Dasti, who visited villages in the affected area on Saturday, said the missing people were apart from the ofHcialHgure of219 deaths.

A similar claim was made byPML-Q MNA from Bahawalpur Tariq Bashir Cheema a few days ago.

Addressing a press conference in Multan, Mr Dasti demanded jobs for members of the aggrieved families and threatened to hold a sit-in if the demand was not met. He said his Awami Raj Party would launch a campaign for the establishment of a separate province in Punjab, but the movement would be peaceful and free from linguistic bias.He said his party would go for seat adjustment with those who stood against `takht-i-Lahore`, adding that false cases had been registered against him for raising voice for the poor. `Sharifs vented their frustration in the Panama Papers case on me. I was kept in a death cell infested with mice,` he said.

`I raised the slogan of `Go, Nawaz go` which annoyed the ruling party, he added.

According to some media reports, the vocal MNA from Muzaffargarh had annoyed the ruling party when he created a scene in the National Assembly during President Mamnoon Husain`s speech on June 1.

Mr Dasti demanded accountability of all politicians before the next general election and claimed that prime minister`s daughter Maryam Nawaz was leading a campaign against the army. He said a PML-N MNA from Dera Ghazi Khan had established a private university in Dera Ghazi Khan and issued 146 bogus degrees to students, but no action was taken against him. `The MNA has ruined the future of 1,500 students.

He said the Joint Investigation Team constituted by the Supreme Court to probe allegations of money laundering by the Sharif family should summon the former Qatari prime minister instead of going to Qatar to record his statement.