SAHIWAL: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has unearthed a fraud involving a naib tehsildar and a patwari who sold a 4.9 kanal piece of agricultural land by tampering with the land record of village Tibbi Mohal, tehsil Pakpattan.

Both the officials and five others have been booked on the charge of fraud and tampering with the land record.

ACE Regional Director Kanwar Khalid said that after a 21-month hectic investigation, the fraud amount Rs4.5m had been recovered from Munshi Muhammad Imran and his cronies and handed over to complainant Din Muhammad, a resident of Depalpur City. Din confirmed that he had received Rs3.5m from Muhammad Imran at the ACE office.

Sources said Naib Tehsildar Munawar Hussain, Patwari Salahud Din and Munshi Imran, Muhammad Imran Baloch, Haleema Bibi, Muhammad Aslam and Muhammad Zaman, residents of Tibbi Mohal, had been booked in the case registered with the ACE Pakpattan office.

The case was registered after completion of the inquiry held by AD, ACE II, Sahiwal.

Din Muhammad told Dawn he was shown by Muhammad Imran Baloch a four kanal and nine marla piece of land near village Tibbi Mohal.

Haleema Bibi was shown as the owner. Din said he visited the land and met with the tehsildar and two patwaris who confirmed that the land belonged to Haleema.

The deal was struck at Rs4.5m while Rs350,000 were handed over to the revenue officer and patwari as transfer fees. Din gave an additional Rs174,000 to a revenue official for securing land transfer deeds.

He paid all amounts and land was transferred in his name on March 28, 2022, in the office of the naib tehsildar. When Din went to visit his land after its transfer, he was informed that Haleema was the owner of a 10-marla land that she had sold the land on Oct 15, 2021.

Din came to know that his transfer deed was fake and the revenue officer of tehsil Pakpattan had tampered with the land record where Haleema was shown as the owner of a plot non-existent on the ground.

Din approached the ACE that arrested Muhammad Imran Baloch and recovered Rs3.5m from him while the remaining amount had already been distributed among others. It is said the naib tehsildar and two patwaris had got pre-arrest bail.

Kanwar Khalid said revenue officers would be arrested for tampering with revenue records and taking bribe.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2023