LAYYAH, July 22: Influential land grabbers have illegally occupied a precious piece of land originally belonging to a social welfare trust established long before partition of India by a Hindu philanthropist.

The land had been under the control of municipal committee for the last 40 years.

Harjees Rai Gaba, an issueless philanthropist, had established the trust after his own name in 1876 with the start of railway services in the area. The trust ran a hostel which would provide lodging and food facilities to railway passengers regardless of their cast and creed.

Gaba also purchased 26 canal land for the trust located adjacent to the railway station and rented it out to different people to meet the expenditures of the social welfare service. The revenue record of 1943-44 shows that Harjees Rai Gaba Trust owned the land situated on the Railway Road.

After the creation of Pakistan, in 1960, the trust property was transferred to the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).

The board rented out the hostel building to Anjuman Hussania which established Imam Bargah Hussania there. Later, the ownership of the hostel building was transferred to the Anjuman Hussania after completion of legal procedure.

The remaining land was rented out by the ETPB to different people for commercial and housing purposes, while 11-Marla land of the trust was rented out to the municipal committee which established a tonga stand on it in the late 1960s.

With tongas disappearing from the scene, the Tehsil Municipal Administration handed back the land to the ETPB in June 2006.

Very recently, some people enjoying the support of influential `politicians’ of the district occupied the land illegally and refused to pay the rent to the board.

It is interesting to note that before occupying the land the grabbers with the connivance of some revenue officials changed the ownership of trust property showing it under the possession of the government of Pakistan, and then it was `transferred’ to the Punjab government.

The land grabbers have constructed shops on the land.

ETPB local administrator Mian Aftab Ahmed Joya maintains that the higher authorities have been informed of the occupation of the trust land and legal notices have been served on the occupants.