Nankana encroachments: Operation against encroachers abandoned

Six cops and two ETPB guards injured in the clash

LAHORE: Six police officials, including an inspector, a sub-inspector and an assistant sub-inspector, and two guards of the Evacuee Trust Property Board were injured in a clash over an attempt to recover trust land from illegal occupants in Kot Sanat Ram, Nankana Sahib.

ETPB Chairman Siddiqul Farooq said that the illegal occupants were being backed by Provincial Assembly Member (MPA) Zulqarnain Dogar. He said the ETPB and the police team were attacked by people associated with the squatters. He said some of them had thrown bricks and stones at the ETPB-police team and others had charged the officials with batons.

Later, he said, some of the attackers had shot at the officials. He said he had dodged a bullet shot at him.  His car was damaged.

Farooq said the ETPB had recovered 400 kanals of trust land from illegal occupants last year. He said a total of 19,000 acres of land managed by the ETPB had been illegally occupied across the province. “I’m in charge of the trust. I won’t let anyone illegally occupy the land. The land belongs to the country’s minority communities,” he said.

Farooq said the operation was abandoned because the raiding team, consisted of 100 male and 10 female guards from the ETPB and 100 male and 15 female police officials, had been outnumbered by the assailants.

Farooq said a request had been sent to the chief minister to provide the ETPB with a bigger police party. He said the operation would be resumed as soon as the required number of police officials was available.

MPA Zulqarnain Dogar denied that he was patronising the occupants. He said ETPB officials had allowed encroachments on the land apparently in return for kickbacks.

Dogar said violence had erupted when the ETPB guards opened fire at a group protesting against the operation. He said the protesters and their supporters had then resorted to violence.

A resident of Kot Sanat Ram area where the operation was carried out told The Tribune that his family was paying a Rs6,000 per marla rent to the ETPB. He said they had been living in the area for decades. “Why did they [the ETPB] let us move to the area in the first place?” he asked. He said that the operation was launched to force the residents to surrender to the ETPB’s demand for raising rents.

Witnesses said that men from amongst the protesters had raided a nearby office of the ETPB. They broke furniture and windowpanes and set ablaze official record kept at the facility. They also set on fire some motorcycles of the ETPB staff parked in front of the office.

City SHO Muhammad Yaqoob said they were investigating the matter and would soon register an FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2016.