TOBA TEK SINGH: An elderly woman submitted an application to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore on Oct 15 alleging that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Riaz Fatyana, his wife Ashfa Fatyana who is a minister in Punjab, their son Ahsan and two other individuals have grabbed her land measuring over a kanal with the connivance of revenue and police officials.

Farhat Begum of Johar Town, Lahore stated that although inquiries conducted by the police and other departments were in her favour, the influence of the suspects was a hurdle in the retrieval of her land worth millions of rupees. The other suspects named in her application were Shahid Abbas Qureshi of Sialkot and Haji Sharif Siddiqui of the same locality.

Meanwhile, MNA Fatyana claimed that he found out only through the media about the application against him and his family members.

He told Dawn on Friday that he or any of his family members was not involved in the matter. “This is actually a property dispute between two parties in Lahore and no one of them was his relative.”

He claimed he or his wife, Punjab Women Development Minister Ashfa Fatyana, never supported anybody in any government office.

He was unaware why the woman sent the application to the NAB against him and his family. “I fully deny our involvement in any kind of wrongdoing or criminal activity,” he stressed.

Sources in the NAB said the cell concerned will examine the facts mentioned in the application and initiate an inquiry accordingly.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2020