Gujar Khan land records: Forged entries dating back four to five years uncovered

Allegations against revenue officials not yet substantiated; report expected next week: DCO.

RAWALPINDI:

Allegations of forgeries in Gujar Khan’s land records have finally been substantiated, but what remains to be known is who exactly is responsible for the tampering.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zaffar told The Express Tribune on Saturday that forged entries dating back four to five years have been uncovered in Gujar Khan’s land records. However, allegations that revenue officials intentionally forged these entries in connivance with influential land grabbers and a local member provincial assembly (MPA) have not yet been substantiated, he said.

Zaffar said the matter will become clear once Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) General Talat Mehmood Gondal submits his inquiry report next week. He assured that if the revenue officials were found guilty, strict action will be taken against them.

The issue came to light after a dispute ensued between a former revenue officer of Gujar Khan, Azhar Kiani, and his replacement, Chaudhry Jameel, and the two spilled the beans about each other’s role in large-scale tampering in Gujar Khan’s land records.

Their allegations came days after residents of different areas of Gujar Khan – including Chohan Nijar, Barki Budhal and Karoli – accused the local revenue officials of depriving them of hundreds of kanals of land in connivance with influential land grabbers. The land owners approached the revenue authorities and even Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after they claimed their complaints were not taken seriously by the assistant commissioner of Gujar Khan and the area tehsildar.

A revenue official confided in The Express Tribune that the dispute between the two revenue officers started after Jamil was removed from his post and Kiani was appointed to replace him. The official said Jamil accused Kiani of maligning him which led to his suspension and the two started levelling allegations of corruption against each other.

The revenue official said that victims hold a local MPA responsible for the land fraud but have not named the assembly member in their written complaints.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2012.