ISLAMABAD                 -          Former Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar yesterday strongly criticised the government for hike in gas prices. “The newspapers are full with stories of imminent tariff hikes in energy prices. Inflation is already out of control while the cost of living has unbearably gone up for the common man with food inflation soaring to 32 percent,” he said in a statement. Khokhar said the common man was already burdened and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended a shocking 74 percent increase in gas prices in one go. “Through this decision the government intends to fleece around Rs300 billion from the consumers to meet revenue shortfalls. The federal government, he said, was caught in a ‘catch twentytwo’ situation with no one but itself to blame, he said.