Pakistan

Land scam: Rs17b made through ‘china cutting’ allegedly sent to MQM’s London secretariat

The statement comes from Rangers as they present a detained KDA official before court

Our Correspondent July 04, 2015

PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

KARACHI: In what appears to be yet another startling allegation against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Rangers officials told media that billions of rupees generated through land scams in the port city had been transferred to the party's London secretariat.

The statement came from the paramilitary force officials when they presented an official of the now defunct Karachi Development Authority (KDA) before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday.

Atif Ahmed, an assistant director at the KDA that was responsible for land development in the city, was arrested on the night of June 26 as the Rangers raided his residence in Malir's Liaquat Market area. Reportedly, the paramilitary force had also confiscated some documents from him. After that, Ahmed's whereabouts were unknown till Saturday.

The suspect, whose face was covered with a piece of cloth, was presented before the ATC-III. The hearing, which lasted for a couple of minutes only, took place inside the chamber of the judge, Saleem Raza Baloch. Since the proceedings remained secret, nothing could be known about what happened inside.

Read: 'Confession documents' of Tariq Mir alleging Indian funding of MQM are fake: London Police

However, a lawyer of the paramilitary force told journalists waiting outside the judge's chamber that the suspect, during initial interrogation, had confessed to committing several irregularities in the land development by the KDA.

He said that at least Rs17 billion made through 'china cutting' - a notorious term used to describe encroachment of public land, dividing it into smaller plots, selling them to people and getting them regularised illegally - were sent to MQM's international secretariat in London.

Read: India ‘funding MQM since 1994’

The money, he added, was sent through a middleman, identified as Chunnu Mamoo, to a top leader of the party, Muhammad Anwar. However, none of the documents supporting this claim of Rangers was submitted to the court except for the detention order and jail warrant of the suspect.

After informing the court, the paramilitary force took the suspect into custody for three months under the special powers it enjoys following the enactment of the Pakistan Protection Act, for interrogation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2015.

COMMENTS (9)

Hammad | 9 years ago | Reply someone who is from karachi knows that it is rangers which is the biggest land mafia in the city along with police just recently the land grabbed illegally by rangers on the premises of karachi university and used for illegal business has been exposed

Afzal | 9 years ago | Reply @Salman - SK: Rangers are acting in line with what was agreed by all parties..... and enacted as law. To investigate crimes in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi is no child's play and in some cases 3 months may just be the right time course required to complete the necessary work. If we can not eliminate violence and corruption at this stage we will allow ourselves lapse into anarchy and all the associated dangers and consequences. unfortunately it does not take us long before we unleash talking about possible disintegration of the country using BD model again and again. Time is now to eliminate the rot which has weakened the country. Lack of action now could do us more damage. Remember 3 months are not spent only beating up the suspects but to collect credible evidence that can be presented in the court as many can go free despite good circumstantial proof.

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Malveros | 9 years ago | Reply MQM has been indulging in these activities since a long time more so under Musharraf's watch.

Karachite | 9 years ago | Reply Will Karachi ever wake up to a day when all MQM terrorists have been eliminated. Rangers' efforts are commendable but that day seems far off. PPP and so called Sindh Government is actively protecting MQM terrorists as they know fully well they are next.

Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply These allegations and much else do not impress the people, because they know all this........what they want to see is that someone very high up is punished and in a way that is visible ( allowing them to quietly slip out of the country is not acceptable )

AKD | 9 years ago | Reply Daily KDA official's earn millions of rupees as bribe for land transfer, where this money is going. ; no plot is transfered without taking Rs. 50000 to 200,000/- To get get dues challans , bribe rate is fixed at Rs. 15000/- each challans, Now the clerk make challans into 3 challans and then demand 45000/- bribe, as the have orders from namaaloom afrad, Hope Pak Rangers will fix this corruption and setup their complaint cell at KDA premises

Amna Rizvi | 9 years ago | Reply MQM, MQM, MQM... Finally its time!! Hope we can get rid of this cancer from our country!

Khurram | 9 years ago | Reply Why in world the government and security establishment are not banning this MQM? There are countless serious allegations against them, some of them already proved in courts. In no other country except Pakistan such criminals can continue in mainstream politics.

Salman - SK | 9 years ago | Reply Secret hearings that last couple of minutes and kangaroo courts does not lead a nation towards democracy or stability. Rather it leads towards disintegration and anarchy. You can see what is happening in Egypt and we also remember well what happened in erstwhile East Pakistan. Taking remand of alleged defendants for three months to beat the pulp out of them to make them confess to almost any crime the authorities wish only strengthens the support of public for the political parties. The solution is to let the rule of law govern the proceedings, bring out the charges and supporting evidence, and give the criminals befitting punishment and not let them go for political reasons or use them as "strategic assets." Expose their misdeeds, corruption, and high-handedness in a transparent manner in the public media and you will see the public line up to support wiping out these fascists and criminals. Give respect to the public and common man to earn their confidence and goodwill so they will support action against this mafia. The way you are going about it only bodes ill for the future. These tactics did not work in the banana republics of South America and for sure they will not work in Pakistan.

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