Officials, cops, patwaris held for fraud, taking bribes

Two patwaris, an identifier arrested in Okara for illegal mutation of 984 acres of state land

MULTAN/ SARGODHA/ LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) director has ordered an inquiry against some officers and contractors of the Buildings and Public Health Engineering Departments over alleged embezzlement of millions of rupees in development projects.

ACE authorities said on Thursday that Muhammad Khalid, son of Muhammad Tufail, a resident of Chak 135-NB, had filed an application to ACE Director Rana Gulzar Ahmad saying that some officers of the Public Health Department and some contractors had embezzled millions of rupees in the construction of the sewerage system in Chak 133, Chak 134 and Chak 135-SB. The estimated cost of the sewerage system was Rs40 million.



Another complainant, Muhammad Hanif, son of Muhammad Ramazan, a resident of Chak 25-SB, had filed a similar complaint against Sub-Engineer Muhammad Hanif and Sub-Divisional Officer Tariq Javed of the Buildings Department. He had accused them of embezzling funds meant for development work at the Anwar Abad THQ Hospital in Chak 90-SB. He said the officers and the relevant contractor had embezzled Rs7 million by using old tiles instead of new ones on the roof of the building.

The estimated cost of constructing the building was Rs21.8 million.

Gulzar Ahmad has appointed ACE Technical Deputy Director Shaikh Irfan Ahmad as the inquiry officer to investigate corruption charges.

Separately, the Anti-Corruption Establishment, held raids in various areas in Lahore and arrested a sub-inspector and some employees of the Revenue Department for taking bribes.

Anti-Corruption Lahore Region Circle Officer Syed Zubair Akhlaq led a sting operation to arrest Anti Vehicle Lifting Squad Allama Iqbal Town Sub Inspector Anwar Shahid. They caught him red-handed taking Rs10,000 as gratification for handing over a stolen car. Earlier, he had allegedly received Rs50,000 to give the owner custody of the stolen car.

The ACE also arrested Girdawar Muhammad Asghar, a proclaimed absconder, in a case of illegal mutation in 2008. Officials of the ACE have also arrested Jallo circle patwari Muhammad Riaz for taking Rs20,000 bribe from Haroon Hayat for mutation of his land.

The patwari had earlier taken Rs10,000 from Hayat.

Patwari Younis was arrested from Kamoke for taking Rs4 million bribe for illegal mutation. Officials of the ACE have recovered Rs2.7 million from him so far.



Kaiser Kalan circle patwari Tasawar Shah was arrested for issuing a bogus ownership document for of a house owned by a retired army officer’s daughter. An Okara anti-corruption officer has arrested patwari Muhammad Hussain, patwari Agha Muhammad Saleem and identifier Agha Manzoor Ahmad in a case of illegal mutation of 984 acres of state land worth billions of rupees, in Ram Parshad village.

Main suspect in land fraud applies for plea bargain

The primary suspect in a land development fraud at Wapda Town, Multan, has applied for plea bargain with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A press release issued by the NAB on Thursday says that Saeed Ahmad Khan had confessed to taking commission from investors for Wapda Town Phase-III.

According to the press release, Khan revealed during the interrogation that he had distributed the commission among members of the management committee that had approved several illegal commercial plots. The investigation team also unearthed properties owned by Khan in various cities that were worth more than Rs300 million (and held in other names).



The press release says during investigation, the inquiry team had realised that had they not conducted an inquiry, 12,000 members of the Wapda Town Phase-III would have suffered losses.

“The business of issuing illegal commercial plots was quite lucrative. The management committee had issued 3,344 files for commercial plots and 12,000 residential plots to its members, even though it only had 6,000-kanals in hand.”

The press release states that the Wapda Town required 5,000 kanals to meet its allotted plot requirements. The ratio of allotment of commercial plots was much higher than allowed. Given the 3,344 shops, there would be a shop in Phase-III for every three houses.

So far, two investors and four members have surrendered illegal gains worth Rs120 million, the press release says.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2016.