ISLAMABAD: The police arrested 42 people posing as the Taliban in order to grab land, after a gun battle during an operation Sunday night.

Four policemen were suspended due to their connection with the land grabbers and an inquiry was initiated against them.

The group of land grabbers were active in the rural areas to the southwest of the capital, including in Noon, and were posing as the Taliban so they could scare the villagers and occupy their lands, the police said.

A villager lodged a complaint with Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan as they had taken over eight kanals of his land.

He said he returned from a short trip abroad to find gunmen at his property.

When he approached the gunmen to ask them what the matter was, they took him to the office of a property dealer and detained him.

Four policemen were suspended for connections with the land grabbers

The complainant alleged the gunmen made him sign an affidavit at gunpoint and that they dropped him off at another location.

He told the IGP the gunmen threatened him of dire consequence if he did not settle the issue with them.

The IGP ordered that a case be registered against the land grabbers and action be taken against them.

The Noon police registered a case under Anti Terrorism Act’s Article 7 as well as various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code including 148 for rioting and being armed with a deadly weapon, 149 for unlawful assembly for committing an offence, 342 for wrongful confinement, 365 for kidnapping, 384 for extortion, 447 for criminal trespass and 506 (ii) for criminal intimidation.

A police team raided the property dealer’s office but faced resistance from the gunmen stationed there.

The gunmen asked the police to leave and then opened indiscriminate firing at them.

The police team called for backup and the police contingent that came to help cordoned off the area. The police’s vehicles were damaged during the firing.

The gunmen were first given a warning before the police retaliated with force, which led the gunmen to surrender.

Six people including the land grabbers succeeded to escape though.

The police arrested 42 people and recovered 12-bore guns, 44-bore guns, 9MM pistols, .222-bore guns and 30-bore pistols.

The arrestees were moved to the police station and cases were registered against them under the Anti Terrorism Act and several sections of the PPC and the Arms Ordinance.

A police officer told Dawn that the main accused managed to escape and that efforts were underway to track them down and secure their arrest. It is yet to be established whether the accused are actually affiliated with the Taliban or were merely posing as them in order to intimidate people to give up their lands.

Separately, another raid was conducted in Koral to arrest three land grabbers. The police said the raid was conducted after a complaint was lodged by a resident.

The police said the complainant has a plot in Madina Town which he purchased in 2005 and that a group of land grabbers active in the area occupied his land. Gunmen stationed on his plot opened fire at him when he came to look into the matter on Sunday.

The complainant then came to the police and registered a case under the Anti Terrorism Act and various sections of the PPC. The police conducted a raid and arrested the land grabbers nominated in the FIR.

IGP Khan also suspended some police officials between the ranks of constables and assistant sub-inspectors for having connections with land grabbers. The police said departmental inquiries were also ordered against them for further action.

These police officials were stationed at various police stations and are said to have been helping land grabbers by informing them about complaints lodged against them, tampering with the complaints or forcing people to withdraw them. They would also not entertain complaints against land grabbers, mistreat complaints and generally act as informers within the police department.

A police officer said that land grabbers were currently active in the rural areas located in the City and Rural Zone of the police as well as the Industrial Area and Saddar Zone.

Many land grabbers occupy land belonging to villagers and sell them on to private housing societies, a police official said.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2018