ACE conducts raids to arrest Imran’s sister

ACE spokesperson says land worth Rs6b was bought by Dr Uzma Khan and her husband for Rs130m

LAHORE:

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) conducted raids to arrest Dr Uzma Khan, the sister of former prime minister Imran Khan, and her husband, Ahad Majeed, in a mega-corruption case, an ACE spokesperson said on Sunday.

The spokesperson said that the ACE officials conducted raids at their houses in Lahore and Layyah, however, no arrest had been made so far. He added that investigation into the mega-corruption scandal was ongoing by ACE Layyah.

Uzma is accused of alleged fraud in purchase of 5,261-kanal of land in Layyah district, reportedly worth billions of rupees, for a mere Rs130 million. The ACE said that the first information report (FIR) had been registered against the couple.

According to the spokesperson, the land was bought in 2021-22 through fraud, adding that Uzma and Majeed made a fake transfer of the land on their names.

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He said that the marker value of the land was about Rs6 billion. The purchase, he added, was made when the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced aid for the Greater Thal Canal project, which aimed at irrigating the barren lands through Thal canal.

He said that Uzma had prior knowledge of the project, so the couple forced the landowner to sell it to them. He added that the landowners had filed complaints against Uzma and others to the police for forcibly buying the land.

The spokesperson added that the role of other officers and officials involved in the fraud would be investigated, stressing that their zero-tolerance policy against the corrupt elements could continue.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM TALIB FARIDI)