Accused in land scam sent on 3-day remand

Magistrate Farrukh Nadeem was handed over to the FIA for his involvement in a Rs1.5 million land scam.

ISLAMABAD:

A local court on Saturday handed Magistrate Farrukh Nadeem over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a three-day physical remand for his involvement in a Rs1.5 million land scam.

Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Sohail directed the FIA to produce Nadeem before the court on September 24.

The agency had arrested him on September 16 from outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after his bail was rejected.

In June, the FIA had lodged an FIR against Nadeem and others involved in the land scam.

Asif Javed had sold five kanals of land to Wallayat Khan Abbasi in Mora Noor, a suburb of Islamabad, in 1991.

However, complainant Abbasi alleged that instead of transferring the land in the name of the buyer, Javed withheld the land in connivance with then tehsildar Nadeem, after bribing him with Rs1.5 million.

On September 16, the court expressed annoyance with the Islamabad Capital Territory administration for failing to arrest Nadeem despite the registration of an FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2013.