May 5, 2003	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 4: Capital Development Authority (CDA) has adopted a new policy under which items confiscated during the anti-encroachment drive would not be returned to the owners, sources in the authority said.

The sources told this reporter on Sunday that Director Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) Mr Mehmood had issued orders that the seized items would not be returned to their owners. The new policy was devised in the wake of the reports that some officials of the directorate were making money through the release of the seized items.

Earlier, only those impounded items were auctioned which were not taken back by their owners, the sources said. When contacted, a senior official of the authority confirmed that under the new policy seized items would be auctioned. He said the decision on auctioning of confiscated goods was only to discourage the culture of encroachment.

The sources said the interior ministry had tasked the authority with removing both movable and immovable encroachments from all the commercial places in Islamabad by May 5. However, the DMA has so far failed in meeting the target as encroachments can still be seen in all the main markets in the Capital including Abpara, Super Market, Peshawar Mor, G-7/2 Market, G-8 Markaz and Karachi Company Market.