Police, KMC recover 70 acres of encroached land

Land of Aligarh Muslim University housing society has been occupied since 2009

KARACHI: Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) anti-encroachment cell and Malir police recovered on Wednesday 70 acres belonging to the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Cooperative Housing Society near Sohrab Goth's Scheme 33 in an operation.

According to anti-encroachment cell director Mazhar Khan, their team launched a successful operation against the ‘land mafia’ who had illegally occupied this land originally belonging to the society. Khan mentioned that 70 acres have been recovered out of the total 233 acres.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Cooperative Housing Society honourary secretary Naseem Obaid said they had to approach the judiciary to recover their land. After an order by the Sindh High Court, the police finally launched a successful operation. Obaid said their land is the largest housing society of Scheme 33 and was allotted in 1968 for graduates of Aligarh Muslim University. He added the land had been occupied since 2009.

The society has 1,530 members and has six blocks - 5A, 5B, 7A, 7B, 9A1 and 9A2. Obaid said that in 2013, blocks 9A1 and 9A2 were recovered and the current operation is being held to recover the remaining four blocks. He said till now most of the area of blocks 5A and 5B have been recovered and later 7A and 7B will be recovered.

Anti-encroachment cell's SSP Asad Chaudhary said the operation will continue till we recover each and every inch of the land.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2016.