ISLAMABAD: As it initiated a probe against the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for irregularities in the allotment of plots during 2017-2023, the Federal Investigation Agency has asked the civic agency to furnish a complete record of allotments made during the said period by Oct 26.

The FIA wrote two separate letters to the civic agency last month seeking relevant records from the CDA regarding “fake/bogus plot files”.

“It is stated that instant inquiry was initiated on the complaint of CDA regarding fake/bogus plot files in CDA Islamabad. In this regard, it is directed that the following record pertaining to all sectors from Aug 27, 2017, to July 31, 2023, be provided along with original record…” read one of the FIA’s letters issued last month.

The letter also sought the allotment register along with allotment letters with serial numbers, emboss registers of all sectors, diary dispatch of director land and deputy director land, computer allotment record, corrigendum issued during the above-mentioned period, balloting record of I-12 and other sectors.

Insiders say agency team to visit land directorate today

According to the letter, the record should be shared with the SHO of the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle.

The second letter directed the CDA to furnish the record of sectors C-13, C-14, C-15, C-16 and D-13 from 2017 to 2023. The FIA also sought mutation copies, diary dispatch registers, computer record, ‘qabzul wasool’, ‘naqsha 2’, and corrigendum issued during the said period.

Sources said the CDA had already shared some of the records with the FIA, but sharing the entire record spanning six years is a “difficult task involving thousands of photocopies”. The sources said the CDA management was in talks with FIA high-ups to depute a few officers, who would sit in the CDA for a few days to get the required details.

They claimed an FIA team is likely to visit the land directorate for details on Wednesday.

‘Backdated allotments’

Sources in the CDA told Dawn that allegedly the backdated allotments were made in various sectors, with Sector I-11 and Sector I-12 on top of such list.

They said the CDA had prepared lists of 800 plots available in said two sectors in 2017 and allotted around 250 plots through balloting while the remaining over 500 plots were kept for future balloting.

Even though there was no new balloting for the remaining plots, the CDA management found out in 2020 that almost 300 of the plots had been allotted in “connivance with the property dealers through backdate signatures, which showed that the plots were allotted before 2017”.

The CDA officials said in many cases the plots were allotted on the basis of “bogus files”. According to the officials, the plots available in the record after the 2017 balloting could not be allotted till the next balloting and if they were allotted then it was obvious they were allotted fraudulently through backdated signatures.

Sources said that corrigendum-based allotments and backdated allotments were also made after 2020, but such allotments took place at a massive level from 2017 to 2020. The sources said the FIA should also “minutely check cases of corrigendum from 2017 to 2023, as in these cases chances of fraudulent allotment are high”.

Explaining details of corrigendum allotments, the sources said, “The CDA officials first allot plot in any sector, but later, through corrigendum, they re-allot plot to a new location, citing different reasons.”

“While probing corrigendum cases, the FIA should check original files on the basis which the first allotment was made before issuance of a corrigendum, as there are allegations that plots were allotted on bogus files as well,” said an official of CDA. Speaking to Dawn, a CDA bigwig told Dawn that the civic agency was cooperating with the FIA.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2023