HYDERABAD: A piece of commercial land (1289.38 sq-yds) belonging to the Military Estate Office (MEO) has been got vacated from a builder, who claims to be owner of the pricy property.

The builder, Kashif Amin, is in the process of purchasing the land for Rs1.4 billion since becoming the highest bidder in an auction, an MEO official said on Tuesday.

However, the MEO removed the builder’s office, set up in twin containers, functioning at the site for about a month. A visit to the site revealed that the site had now been sealed with barbed wires from two sides/corners.

A banner has been erected at the site informing the general public that “the land is owned by the QMG (Quarter Master General Branch”. The banner read: ‘Ye zameen army (Quarter Master General branch) ki milkiyat hey. Iss zameen par kisi bhi qisam ki sargarmi sakhti say mana hey: ba-hukum QMG branch.

The land-related affairs of the MEO are looked after by the QMG branch in Rawalpindi.

Quarter Master General Branch warns public against any activity on its property

MEO Hyderabad Chaudhry Babar neither attended calls nor did he reply Dawn’s message sent to him on Tuesday to explain why this action was taken though the site was meant for a commercial plaza. Likewise, Kashif Amin and his younger brother, Danish Amin, appeared not willing to share their position. Kashif Amin didn’t respond to the messages sent to him through his mobile phone nor did he attend phone calls. Danish Amin, however, spoke to Dawn but only to say that he would get back later as he was busy somewhere. “You have already reported [the matter] earlier, therefore, you may report whatever you know [about the fresh development]. I will talk to you later,” he said.

The builder had been floating his company’s promotional stuff targeting potential buyers through Whatsapp messages and other social media means. The company was offering booking of spaces on 30pc down payment. Different numbers of contact persons were given by the company and one of such numbers (0300-3111175) belonged to Mohammad Ali Shaikh.

When Mr Shaikh was contacted on Tuesday, he claimed that “there was some parking issue and that’s why the Cantonment [board] authorities sealed the site. A contractor of the Cantonment was using it as a charged parking area and collecting parking fee from people”.

He said that a one-month pre-launch time was given to his cousin, Kashif Amin, which had since expired and now booking office would work from [a new place on] Autobhan Road after Eidul Fitr.

He could not explain why the site was sealed when it had been auctioned to his cousin.

The Cantonment Board Hyderabad (CBH) has been maintaining silence on the issue but insisting that the land [as of now] belongs to the MEO.

The plot in question is located paces away from the CBH and the Station Headquarters.

According to sources in the CBH, the builder had opened his business office, just before Ramazan, without obtaining necessary approval, supposed to be granted by the QMG. No building plan was approved by the CBH. “Both these processes involve several stages and certain procedures were also yet to be completed; but the builder opened the office at the site,” said an official.

MEO Babar had previously claimed, while talking to Dawn, that the approval for the Rs1.4bn project by the office concerned under defence ministry had not yet been issued. He had also pointed out that the successful bidder had reportedly sought time till March 25 from the relevant forum in the ministry for depositing the one/tenth of the bid amount, i.e. Rs140m. “I can’t say with certainty that he is allowed the time by the ministry,” Babar had told Dawn.

Some social media activists had lately been raising the issue of the builder’s commercial activities arguing that he was using the MEO land for commercial purposes without having been given necessary approval and without getting the building plan of his project approved. They were cautioning people against investing in the project.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2024