SUKKUR: SITE administration razed an under-construction soap factory of a lawyer of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf amid police protection late last night without bothering to issue notice prior to demolition, said the lawyer.

The PTI lawyer Shahabuddin Shaikh said at a press conference here on Sunday that Engineer Abdul Kareem Malano accompanied by SITE police supervised demolition of his factory in the SITE area late on Saturday night.

Malano claimed the factory was being built over occupied land of SITE measuring 3,000 square feet hence it had been demolished.

Shaikh said that he had purchased the piece of land after making payment to SITE. He showed sale deed and other documents of the ownership of the land and told media persons he had with him all the receipts.

He said that SITE administration had grudgingly handed over the land to him after he had sought police help to get the land vacated, which was part of over 100 acre land reserved for the establishment of export processing zone but the engineer Malano had sold this land out to people who were using it for residential and agricultural purposes. He said that Malano had misguided Sindh government over the issue to justify action against his property because he was counsel of PTI leaders Syed Tahir Hussain Shah and Mubeen Jatoi and now Pakistan Peoples Party government and SITE were targeting him.

He said that SITE administration did not issue any notice to him prior to demolition of the factory. Not only they razed his property but they also took away motors and other machinery, he alleged.

He said that he had suffered a loss of over Rs10 million and warned if he was not paid compensation for the damages then he would file a petition against police, SITE administration and Sindh government in Sindh High Court.

Local PTI leader Syed Tahir Hussain Shah condemned the factory’s demolition and said the Sindh government was taking vengeful actions against PTI members, including Leader of Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh whose farmhouse was razed in Karachi a day before.

He urged the federal government to take notice of demolition of properties and legal business centres of PTI supporters and fake cases being registered against them.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2021