SIALKOT: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on Friday registered a case against six officials of the Sambrial Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) and the owner of a private housing scheme for selling plots by issuing bogus land map.

According to ACE Divisional Director Rana Abdul Shakoor, a case has been registered on the report of Rashid Ameen Butt against Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) Syed Asad Shah, Sambrial Tehsil Officer (Revenue) Musharraf Baig, Tehsil Officer (P&C) Mariyam Sadiqa, clerk Ghulam Murtaza, former TMO Inayat Ali, former tehsil officer (P&C) Anan Rafiq Butt and Suhail Mahmood Umer, owner of Happy Valley Housing Scheme.

Mr Shakoor said the private housing scheme did not have the land that was shown in the map in connivance with the TMA officials. He said the ACE had conducted a detailed inquiry into the scam and found the suspects guilty.

Tauqeer Ilyas Cheema, assistant commissioner/TMA administrator, told Dawn by telephone the TMA had issued the no-objection certificate to the private housing scheme in 2009, saying the complainant had pointed out that the owner of the scheme was now selling plots more than its land.

He said the TMA had also lodged a fraud case against the owner of the housing scheme with Airport Police Station about a month ago and he had got bail from a local court.

No TMA official has been arrested so far.

WB delegates: A World Bank’s (WB’s) trade development delegation was impressed by the craftsmanship of Sialkot artisans during their visit to the city on Friday.

Senior trade economist Nadia Rocha and Sanjay Kathuria led the delegation.

WB officials said Sialkot exporters were playing a pivotal role in strengthening the national economy through their exports.

Earlier, the delegation visited the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry and discussed the matters of mutual interest with exporters, and assured them WB’s full cooperation.

The officials said their visit to Sialkot aimed to reach out both public and private sectors’ stakeholders for understanding the key bottlenecks hindering trade growth in Pakistan.

They said the other major object to visit Sialkot was to identify elements, not limited to policy measures, which had led to Sialkot becoming an industrial cluster worthy of replication across Pakistan.

BODY: The Daska city police are still looking for clues in their search for the identity of a female body discovered from the main Bambaanwala-Ravi-Baidian Canal near Daska on Thursday.

Daska Deputy Superintendent of Police Lal Muhammad Khokhar told Dawn the body had tortured marks with chopped nose and mutilated eyes making it unrecognisable. The body was packed in a bag.

This discovery of the body, the police official said, created panic among the local people.

Also, two persons gangraped a women at their poultry farm in village Ghueinky-Motra, Daska, and fled.

Police have registered a case.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2016

Opinion

Editorial

Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....
Rigging claims
Updated 04 May, 2024

Rigging claims

The PTI’s allegations are not new; most elections in Pakistan have been controversial, and it is almost a given that results will be challenged by the losing side.
Gaza’s wasteland
04 May, 2024

Gaza’s wasteland

SINCE the start of hostilities on Oct 7, Israel has put in ceaseless efforts to depopulate Gaza, and make the Strip...
Housing scams
04 May, 2024

Housing scams

THE story of illegal housing schemes in Punjab is the story of greed, corruption and plunder. Major players in these...