SAHIWAL: Thirty-five kanals of private hereditary agricultural land, valued at Rs35 million, was retrieved from an illegal occupant after around three decades and handed over to three sisters, who are rightful owners, at 99/6-R village.

The land was retrieved in a joint operation led by the district administration and assisted by officials from the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera) force, the revenue department, and the police.

Pera in charge Nouman Qasir told Dawn on Sunday that the land had been unlawfully occupied by one Sadaqat, who had seized it after the death of his elder brother Sadat some 30 years ago.Sadat’s legal heirs had been trying to get back the land, but to no avail.

A few months back, Sadat’s three daughters – Azra Sadat, Rabia Sadat, and Hajira Sadat – filed an application with the Sahiwal deputy commissioner (DC), seeking restoration of their inheritance rights.

On their complaint, the district administration conducted wanda proceedings and directed Sadaqat to vacate the property, ruling that the land rightfully belonged to Sadat’s daughters. Assistant Commissioner Ms Maham Bilal confirmed that after official orders, the operation was executed on May 6, and the land was formally handed over to the rightful owners.

Illegal Housing Societies: The district government continued its demolition drive against illegal housing societies and took action against two housing schemes falling under the jurisdiction of the district council.

The drive, jointly supervised by Pera Force, police and Zila Council enforcement officials, demolished the offices of the Najaf City located in 108/9-L and Musa Block at Arifwala-Sahiwal Road.

The operation had been ongoing for the past four weeks on the directives of Deputy Commissioner Samiullah Farooq.

Earlier, through an official notification, 28 housing schemes were declared illegal for operating without no objection certificates (NOCs) and other mandatory legal documents.

The district administration claimed that so far 12 cases had been registered against owners of illegal housing societies. The offices of Arooj Garden, Al-Haram Garden, Canal City, Safder Villas, Azan City housing society and Azafi Abadi Colony had been demolished along with their boundary walls, entry and exit gates and the officials also took documents from their site offices into custody.

ENCOUNTER: An alleged dacoit was killed while two of his accomplices ran away after an encounter with the Crime Control Department (CCD) near village 96/9-L on Saturday night.

Police claimed that CCD Sub-Inspector Shahid Mahmood was on routine patrol when he spotted three dacoits looting villagers by blocking the road. Police claimed that upon seeing the CCD vehicle, the suspects opened fire and took cover in nearby fields.

Police later claimed to have found one suspect, identified as Muhammad Tanveer, dead. CCD claimed to have recovered a motorcycle, and 30-bore pistols from the scene.

CCD claimed that the killed dacoit was wanted in more than 84 dacoity and theft cases registered in multiple districts of Punjab. A case was registered on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Mahmood. Raids were underway at various locations to arrest the escaped suspects.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2026