LAHORE: Challenging what they say claims of PTI nominee for NA-122 Aleem Khan about his financial uprightness, residents of a housing society alleged at a press conference here on Thursday that he had defrauded them in the sale of plots.

Led by Awami Workers Party General Secretary Farooq Tariq, the residents of Nazir Gardens on Canal Bank Road distributed photocopies of sale deeds carrying signatures of the PTI candidate.

They alleged that Aleem Khan while being the general secretary of the Park-View Housing Society sold them state land as his own.

They said that most of them had bought plots from Aleem Khan between 1997 and 2004 in what was called another scheme of the Park View Housing Society with a promise of proper registries and transfer of the land title.

But the registries proved to be bogus in 2004 when revenue officer Muhammed Baksh said the piece of land allotted to them was, in fact, state land, Tariq said.

He said Aleem Khan made millions through this housing society which he had sold under the impression that the title of land was legal and clear.

In 2012, when the authorities tried to demolish the constructions got erected by the purchasers of plots, the victims contacted Aleem Khan but he refused to take any responsibility for the housing society that he was administering.

Tariq alleged that Aleem Khan represented a class of extortionists that tried to cover up its crimes.

Replying to a question that why they chose election time to raise the issue, Tariq said: “We’ve just accepted the challenge thrown by Aleem Khan to provide documentary proof (of his alleged wrongdoings) and we have been consistently criticising the land-grabber on various platforms.

He said the press conference was being held and documents pertaining to the “fraud” were being distributed in response to claims made the Aleem Khan on the social media and PTI chairman Imran Khan’s demand for producing documentary proof against the party nominee otherwise they were contesting their case through courts.

Meanwhile, neither Aleem Khan nor his aide Farrukh Javed Moon was taking calls on their cell phones or responding to the text messages sent for getting their stance on the issue.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2015

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