SARGODHA: Over 41 kanal government land worth millions, located in Chak 43 NB in the heart of city, was retrieved during a cleanup operation on Sunday.

Temporary and permanent encroachments were demolished with heavy machinery while crops were destroyed.

The Liquidation Committee of the Colonies Department of the Board of Revenue Punjab carried out a `historic’ crackdown against the influential encroachment mafia and ended illegal possession for 36 years.

According to sources, this decisive action was taken on the orders of the Member Colonies and Chairperson Liquidation Committee Board of Revenue Malik Abdul Waheed.

The operation was supervised by Secretary Colonies Zaheer Abbas Jatha and Deputy Secretary General Muhammad Shafqat, while Assistant Commissioner of Sargodha and revenue field staff provided full support.

According to reports, the land was owned by the banned Commercial Cooperative Development Corporation /Government of Punjab, which was illegally occupied by some influential people.

As soon as the information was received, a special team was sent from Lahore which reached Sargodha early in the morning and after a day-long operation, the land possession was handed over to government.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2026