MULTAN: Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nadir Chattha has been transferred and directed to report to the Services and General Administration Department, reads a notification issued on May 6 by Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed.

His transfer at a time when shuffling of civil servants is on the cards ahead of the general elections has raised many eyebrows.

Deputy Secretary at the Chief Minister’s Office Zahid Sohail, a grade 18 officer, will succeed Mr Chattha.

Sources said Mr Chattha had sought his transfer from the district a few months ago, but the chief minister asked him to continue his duty. They said the major reason behind his request was his differences with city mayor Naveedul Haq Arrain whose brother, former provincial minister Abdul Waheed Arrain, had complained to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza about him.

They said that appointments in the Multan Waste Management Company created difference between the DC and the mayor as the mayor and his brother wanted to appoint candidates of their choice.

Also, Mr Chattha got vacated two acres in Gulgasht Colony from the Aligarh Old Boys Association, which was leased to them by the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Authority for 50 years on Sept 29, 1962 and on April 19, 1993 for establishing a school which was upgraded to a college.

On Feb 13 this year, the possession of the land was withdrawn from the association for defaulting on terms and violation of terms while a first information report was also lodged with the Gulgasht police against the college administration, including former PML-N MPA Maulvi Sultan Alam.

Similarly, Mr Chattha took stand to protect 377 kanals and 16 marlas in mauza Jungle Khan Muhammad, after a revenue record scrutiny showed that the land belonged to the state while the grabbers had forged documents to get the ownership of the land.

They said that DC Chattha was annoyed at the involvement of a private person into the affairs of Nishtar Hospital and tired to cut the role of that private person.

This time, the private person managed to stop the DC from visiting the hospital and monitor the affairs of the hospital.

When contacted Mr Chattha termed his transfer a routine matter. Mayor’s staff said he was in Lahore for a meeting.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2018