MIANWALI: The Excise and Taxation department has been sealing houses of alleged property tax defaulters in Minawali with the families inside the homes, Dawn has learnt.

During the property tax recovery campaign held on Saturday, excise officials sealed houses by pasting notices on the doors and putting motorcycle locks on the doors.

The incidents of locking families, including women and children, surfaced on social media in Ibrahimabad and Rokhri areas, and it was claimed that excise officials did not even bother to check if families were inside the homes.

After the incident, many residents of the city rushed to areas to see the homes and they chanted slogans against the excise department and the Punjab government.

ETO says defaulters have been served prior notices but they failed to pay their property taxes

The protesters said that the government had ‘unleashed’ these officials on families without caring for their wellbeing. Meanwhile, the owners of affected houses were shocked to find their families locked inside for several hours.

After videos of the incident went viral on social media, excise officials unlocked the houses.

Liaqat of Mohallah Ibrahimabad told Dawn that his house had been sealed without any prior notice, which he said was unlawful. He urged the Punjab chief minister to order a high-level inquiry against this unlawful action.

Another affectee of Rokhri area, Imtiaz Khan, said that he was not at home when his house was sealed and he was informed by some neighbours about his family being locked inside the house. He said that he rushed home to rescue them. He said the excise officials had locked the main gate of his house from outside with a motorcycle lock and pasted a default notice on the gate. He claimed that he had never been served a notice before the incident.

When contacted, Excise Taxation Officer (ETO) Shahid Naseem told Dawn that the department had started the campaign to recover property tax from long-standing defaulters. He claimed that the defaulters had been served notices but they did not pay the pending taxes. “In such cases, we can legally seal the house of defaulters,” he said. Most of the sealed houses were already locked, he further claimed.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2026