NAB expands probe into Sharif family land case

Asks people affected by Lahore Master Plan amendments to submit their records

LAHORE:

The Lahore bureau of the country’s top anti-graft body has expanded its scope of investigation against the Sharif family in a case of illegal land transfer.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore has started collecting records of the amendments to the Lahore Master Plan, the people affected because of them as well as the losses incurred because of the move.
Sources said the amendments were introduced to benefit the Sharif family.

The master plan of the city was introduced in 2004. However it was amended in 2013 through a notification by the Lahore district council and the residential areas of Raiwind tehsil were transferred and categorised as agricultural land.

The anti-corruption body has issued a through a notification, asking the people who owned the land or were still in its possession to submit its Lahore office within the next 30 days.

As per the details of the case, NAB has accused the Sharif family of transferring of hundreds of kanals of land in Raiwind through illegal means.

NAB Lahore had summoned PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz in this connection on August 11.

The anti-graft body has alleged that at least 1,440 kanals of land -- 180 acres – was transferred in Maryam’s name. This happened after 2013 when 3,568 kanals of land -- 446 acres -- was transferred in the name of the Sharif family.

NAB has alleged that 3,568 kanals land was purchased by the Sharif family in 2013. Out this, the largest share -- 1,936 kanals or 242 acres -- was transferred in the name of Shamim Bibi, the mother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif. The property transferred against Maryam’s name was from this share of the property.

At least 12 acres or 96 kanals each were also transferred against the names of Nawaz and Shehbaz.
On August 11, Maryam appeared before NAB in connection with the case but it was unable to record her statement as her party workers ran berserk and clashed with riot police in an attempt to force their way into the office of the national graft buster.

As soon as Maryam’s motorcade arrived, PML-N workers broke down the barricades in an attempt to storm their way into the NAB office, damaged public property and threw stones at the riot police deployed there.

The government said the “attack on the NAB office” was reminiscent of the storming of Supreme Court building in 1997 by the supporters of Nawaz Sharif.
The riot police fired tear gas canisters and used batons and water cannons to disperse the violent activists.

According to the PML-N spokesperson, the police rounded up around 50 party workers during the melee.
Amid the rioting, Maryam, who was accompanied by her husband Captain (retd) Safdar and other party leaders Rana Sanaullah, Pervez Rashid and Talal Chaudhry at the time, shared a video of her vehicle’s broken windshield on social media, alleging that the police were responsible for it.