Pindi’s two top admin officers transferred

DC, ADC were probing land dispute between relatives of Mian Soomro, Shahzad Akbar

RAWALPINDI: Two senior officers of the Rawalpindi district administration, who were probing a land dispute between relatives of two heavyweights of the incumbent government, have been allegedly removed from their seats.

Within a matter of hours, first Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Saifullah Dogar was transferred and then soon after, Additional DC Revenue Rizwan Qadir was also transferred.

Dogar is the third deputy commissioner of Rawalpindi to have been transferred in the past 16 months.

Both officials were investigating a dispute over the title documents for a piece of land. The land is claimed by Mirza Murad Akbar, the brother of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Malik Munir, the nephew of Federal Privatisation Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro.

Police records show that Murad and Munir were engaged in a tussle on the ownership of a two Kanal plot located within a larger, 10.5 Kanal plot, situated at a prime location near Chakwal Mor within the jurisdiction of the Mandra police station. Both sides claimed ownership of the property and presented documents to the effect to the police.

Police officials said Murad held papers showing ownership two kanals of land in the area which he claimed he had purchased in 2005. Further, police said that Murad had claimed that Munir was illegally occupying his land.

Munir, however, claimed that he had purchased the property in 1986 and a year later, in 1987, he had built a flour mill in a portion of the plot. He also showed the related documents to the police.

Soomro’s relative further claimed that Murad, accompanied by 10 people, had reached the plot with cement bags and tools and tried to build a concrete wall around the plot.

Sensing sensitivity of the situation, a contingent of Mandra police reached the spot to prevent any clash. Police officers further asked Murad and Munir to come to the police station to find an amicable solution to the matter.

A senior police officer, who spoke to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity because he feared retribution, said that to peacefully resolve the matter, the documents produced by both parties were dispatched to the revenue department to check who was the rightful owner of the land and to provide a detailed report.

But before that could happen, the DC and the ADC investigating the ownership papers were removed from their seats.

Dogar has now been replaced by Captain (retired) Anwarul Haq. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2020.