KARACHI: It has been revealed that more than one thousand acres of government lands in Karachi and Jamshoro, worth about Rs 24 billion, are illegally occupied under the alleged patronage of government officials.
Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah has ordered the relevant authorities to get government land worth more than Rs24 billion vacated from illegal occupation.
The chief minister has also issued strict instructions to Anti-Corruption Minister Jam Ikramullah Dharejo in this regard, saying that those involved in illegally occupying government lands should not be pardoned under any circumstances.
Five corruption cases had been registered against local government department officials, 64 against Board of Revenue officials, two against health department officials, two against works & services department officials and two against cooperation department officials.
Two of the cases filed against LG department officials had been approved. One of the cases involved misappropriation of Rs11,837,034, while in the other case, the suspect had seized 600 yards of a graveyard with the connivance of Karachi Development Authority (KDA) officers.
In another case, revenue department officials usurped 195.1 acres of government land belonging to the Deha Kalu Kohar police station in the Bola Khan area through fake documents.
Two open inquiries have also been approved: 16 acres in Deha Songal and 40 acres of prime location in Karachi’s Scheme 33 were allotted to private individuals with the help of the land utilisation department, the assistant commissioner, the revenue mukhtiarkar, and others.
An investigation has also launched into another case involving occupation of government land: the BoR has been directed to get 852 acres of Deh Konkar and Deh Kharo in District Malir vacated.
