Officials allerted about land scam through forgery

Official verification of all land records in region ordered

JARANWALA:

The district administration has asked the assistant commissioners of Tandlianwala and Samundri, along with revenue officers, to carry out verification of any orders related to state land, revenue records and other important land issues before implementation.

This move comes in response to several cases involving fake official letters with forged signatures of officers, aimed at deceiving government functionaries.

Sources revealed that Rana Abid Iqbal, Tehsildar of Tandlianwala, registered a criminal case against Shamsheer Khan, son of Ghulam Sarwar Khan, a resident of Chak 602 GB.

Shamsheer Khan was accused of preparing fake land registration documents bearing the Tehsildar's forged signatures.

Upon investigation, the documents were found to be fraudulent.

During questioning, Shamsheer confessed to his crime, stating he committed the fraud due to receiving a lower fee from a client.

The Tehsildar has declared him a tout and banned his entry into revenue offices.

Shamsheer Khan was also reportedly involved in several other land-related frauds.

A revenue officer alleged that Lal Khan filed an application to unblock Khewat 92/87 at the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue).

An inquiry revealed that the 98 kanals 9 Marla land in question was owned by the provincial government.

The land had been suspiciously mutated in Lal Khan's favour through mutation 1590, 1592, and 1593, with the collusion of revenue staff.

The DC office instructed the subordinate staff to keep the Khewat blocked, as the land belongs to the provincial government.

Another fake letter was allegedly issued by the AC Tandlianwala to the Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue, requesting the unblocking of another Khewat for the issuance of deed of ownership.

The ADCR noticed discrepancies upon reviewing the letter and confirmed it was fraudulently drafted.

The AC Tandlianwala also reported that some lawyers had allegedly pressured officials to unblock the Khewat.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner office has directed the AC to lodge an FIR against all involved in the illegal act, including the beneficiaries.

Additionally, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue)office has instructed both Assistant Commissioners to send a reference to the District Collector's office to cancel the suspicious mutations and finalise investigations regarding three other suspicious mutations.

The DC has ordered that the said Khewat remain blocked as it involves valuable government land.

If any deed of ownership is issued by the Assistant Director of Land Revenue or any other revenue officer, they will face major penalties, including dismissal from service.