PESHAWAR, Feb 14: Ataullah Khan, an elderly philanthropist of Akora Khattak, has requested the NWFP governor to provide him protection from Jan Mohammad Khattak, a former MPA, who allegedly wants to occupy his inherited property.

Mr Atta told newsmen at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday that the then British government in 1840 had leased out a big piece of farmland to his grandfather, Khanbahadur Zaman Khan. After the death of Zaman Khan, his two sons, Inayatullah Khan (father of Atta) and Samandar Khan (father of Jan Mohammad), got equal share in the land.

Mr Atta said he thought the farmland belonged to common people of Nowshehra, adding “I have decided to return the land to its real owners. So far, I have distributed 3,000 kanal among 7,000 people. Now I want to distribute 200 shops located in the Akora Khattak Bazaar among the poor and I have completed the paperwork in this regard.”

Mr Atta said his cousin Jan Mohammad was opposed to the distribution of land. He alleged that Jan Mohammad’s men had attacked and wounded him, but the police were not taking any action against the culprits. He claimed that the attackers were hiding in Jan Mohammad’s house.

Mr Atta is chairman of the Al Khair Huqooqul Ibad Welfare Trust and runs a free hospital and ambulance service.