KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday claimed to have retrieved 10,000 acres of grabbed state land off the Superhighway, where some major housing schemes had been launched in connivance with revenue officials.

“In an investigation against revenue authorities on allegations of fake allotments of land at Thana Bula Khan, Jamshoro, NAB has been successful in getting thousands of lands cancelled by the revenue authorities,” said a NAB spokesperson.

Three officials were arrested in the case on April 17 who were wanted for making bogus entries in the record of rights with respect to state land, fraudulently shown as private land, added the official.

On the basis of established “irrefutable evidence”, NAB has got more than 10,000 acres of state land, usurped by the land mafia, cancelled by the revenue authorities of Jamshoro district.

‘731 acres of the retrieved land belong to DHA City’

The NAB spokesperson said that 731 acres of Deh Babbar Band, Bula Khan taluka, was part of a “large housing scheme” whereas the rest of the land located in dehs Hathal Buth, Bula Khan taluka, was part of other various housing schemes situated along the main Superhighway.

In a major success, state land was restored back to Sindh. The estimated value of the land is around Rs75 billion.

The revenue authorities have now banned issuance of sale certificates in the said lands.

“Investigation is at final stages for which [a] reference shall be filed against [the] accused persons soon,” said the NAB statement.

However, a NAB press release was silent on the number of housing schemes launched off the Superhighway.

Sources familiar with NAB investigation told Dawn that the accountability body had taken notice of Dawn’s investigative stories about two major housing schemes off the Superhighway and initiated an inquiry into it.

Initially, the sources said that NAB took up the issue of 731 acres, which the NAB press release just mentioned as belonging to a “large housing scheme”. In fact, this scheme was DHA City, said the sources, which has been now retrieved.

The sources pointed out that DHA City was spread over a few thousand acres, of which 731 acres were acquired through changes in the revenue record.

The sources said that these retrieved lands belonged to around five to six housing schemes off the Superhighway.

The sources suggested that NAB should identify those housing schemes as innocent investors were pouring in their hard-earned money to purchase lands there to save them and prevent creation of third-party interest in these schemes.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2018