MULTAN: The National Accountability Bureau, Multan, has initiated an inquiry into alleged illegal allotment and possession of 23,000 kanal state land worth Rs1.3 billion in Fort Abbas.

According to an official handout issued here on Thursday, a complaint was received in December 2017 that the Bahawalnagar revenue department officials have illegally allotted 2,360 kanal land worth Rs203 million to illegal occupants in 15 Chakooks in 11 Patwar circles.

It stated that the initial probe into 15 fake/bogus Patta Malkiats revealed that 600 kanal in Chak No 224/9R, 100 kanal in Chak No 334/R, 491 kanal in Chak No 231/R, 100 kanal in Chak No 329/R, 3 kanal in Chak No 272 HR, 8 kanal in Chak No269/HR, 100 kanal in Chak No 316/HR, 64 kanal in Chak No 288/HR, 32 kanal in Chak No 292/HR, 50 kanal in Chak No 327/HR, 100 kanal in Chak No 331/HR, 100 kanal in Chak No 219/HR, 104 kanal in Chak No 293/HR, 48 kanals in Chak No 289/HR and 462 kanals in Chak No 290/HR were allotted illegally.

It stated that during verification it was established that 240 doubtful allotments were made for which the Bahawalnagar AC Revenue failed to provide any details.

“However, further probe revealed that total illegally allotted land including other Chakooks is 23,000 kanal with approximate value of Rs1.3bn.

A total of 245 illegal mutations have been made in these transactions,” it said.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2018