ISLAMABAD: The Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Interior has removed from its agenda of the Jan 6 meeting a planned briefing by the National Police Foundation (NPF) on alleged illegal allotments of plots to senior police officials and private parties.

This decision follows the interior ministry’s recent directives to the NPF and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to brief the committee about irregularities in plot allotments and pending projects. However, a revised agenda issued by the committee omitted the NPF briefing while retaining other items.

As per the revised agenda, the standing committee will now deliberate upon the other issues, including those projects of the CDA that were initiated with substantial financial investments but abandoned during the past five years. The committee will also take up updates on Islamabad’s master plan, imposition of fines on unregistered vehicles, human trafficking, and pending legislation for the Islamabad Capital Territory.

Sources claimed that the briefing was removed from the committee’s agenda at the request of a top official from the interior ministry. In response, Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, chairman of the Standing Committee on Interior, stated that the briefing had only been “temporarily deferred” and would be addressed in a future meeting.

Panel’s chairman says matter ‘temporarily’ postponed, will be taken up soon

It may be noted that the NPF reportedly allotted seven residential plots in Islamabad’s upscale Sector E-11 at throwaway rates. Each one-kanal plot, with a market value of approximately Rs100 million, was allotted for a pre-2000s price of Rs1.57 million.

Beneficiaries included Akhtar Hayat Khan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief; Dr Usman Anwar, the Punjab police chief; Bilal Siddique Kamyana, the Lahore capital city police officer; NPF Managing Director Sabir Ahmed; and DIGs Karim Khan and Syed Ali Mohsin. Sources revealed that some of these officials sold the plots at the current market rates, making enormous profits.

In addition to residential plots, the NPF allegedly sold a prime 5000-square-yard commercial plot in Islamabad to SMB Private Limited for Rs1.08 billion.

This price starkly contrasts with recent auctions conducted by the CDA: two smaller plots (666.66 and 800 square yards) in Sector I-8 Markaz fetched Rs1.14 billion and Rs1.46 billion, respectively. A 533.33-square-yard plot in Sector I-14 Markaz was auctioned for Rs653 million. A Blue Area plot of 2666.66 square yards fetched Rs4.53 billion.

Another significant transaction involved the leasing of a 20 kanal plot in Sector O-9 to Curewell Private Limited. The lease, granted for 99 years at an annual rent of just Rs1 million, allows the lessee to rent or assign portions of the property for commercial activities without sharing revenue with the NPF.

Moreover, the lessee retains the unilateral right to terminate the agreement, a provision critics have dubbed unusually favourable.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025