The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has sent call-up letters to the beneficiaries of China-cutting and directed them to pass on information they have to implicate Karachi Development Authority (KDA) officers and contractors involved in illegal allotment of thousands of acres of land in Surjani Town and New Karachi area or face legal action, Pakistan Today has learnt.
In the letters, the NAB adopted the view that its investigation officer (IO) had come to know that the beneficiaries of China-cutting had information or evidence relating to the commission of China-cutting in New Karachi area and Surjani Town. The Bureau warned the recipients of the call-up letters to appear before the IO with allotment letter(s) of the land they hold or face penal consequences under Section 2 of the Schedule of NAO, 1999.
The accountability watchdog had initiated an inquiry following revelations about land-grabbing by certain builders and KDA officers arrested in the ongoing Karachi operation.
China-cutting scam:
The scam unearthed when paramilitary Rangers picked up Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) London Coordination Committee member Muhammad Anwar’s brother Muhammad Ehsan alias Chonno Mamo right-hand man Faisal Masroor Siddiqui in April 2015.
Siddiqui claimed before the joint interrogation team (JIT) that he along with Mamo had managed to grab almost 5,000 plots in Surjani Town and New Karachi area to finance MQM activities in Karachi.
The JIT recommended the accused was booked under Sections 447/448/468/470/471/420 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), including any other specific section of law by specialised police unit [Police Anti-Encroachment Cell, Karachi] or National Accountability Bureau (NAB) including other federal, provincial agencies to investigate the accused thoroughly and collection of due concrete witnesses and evidences against him to get his conviction from the competent court.
When NAB started investigation into the case following Siddiqui’s revelations, KDA officers moved the Sindh High Court (SHC) for bails. KDA Director Abdul Qavi Khan, Additional Director Nasir Sheikh, Master Plan Director Rashid Aqeel and Director Mumtazul Haq filed applications of bail and adopted the view that the NAB was trying to implicate them in fake cases.
A division bench, headed by Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh, rejected the bail applications filed by the KDA officials in February 2016, and the NAB took them in custody from the court premises, when they were trying to escape after rejection of their bail applications.
Residents’ woes:
The land owners, who received call-up letters, claimed that they are in a fix now.
A resident of Surjani Town told this scribe that he purchased a 120 square yard plot in the locality and he had all documents in hand including lease and KDA-approved map.
“I got call-up letter and I have been asked to appear before a NAB IO long with all documents,” he said, adding, “I purchased a plot from a real estate agent and he handed me all relevant documents, but now I have been called by the Bureau to help them resolve this mega land-grabbing case.”
Further investigation into the case revealed that the MQM allocated thousands of acres of land in Surjani Town to its party workers. The workers got possession and constructed houses there, but they have been told by the NAB that they acquired land unlawfully.
A MQM worker, requesting anonymity, said that he got a call-up letter with directives of physical appearance before the IO but when he visited Nine-Zero, the party headquarters, he was told by party leaders to “trash it”.
Sindh NAB mouthpiece Amir Abbasi confirmed that the Bureau served call-up letters on the occupants of illegally-allocated land directing them to appear before the IO with record.
Abbasi said that “certain contractors got prepared fake land record with the help of KDA officers and later sold the land for billions of rupees”.
The official said that the Bureau was taking steps to retrieve the grabbed land. “We will first prove it in the court that this land was acquired fraudulently and then demolish all constructions, including apartments and bungalows, constructed here,” added Abbasi pointing to thousands of acres of land in Surjani Town and New Karachi area.