LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Feb 19: A resident of Shalobar in Bara tehsil has demanded compensation for the land his family had provided for the establishment of Hayatabad township in Peshawar in 1990.

Talking to newsmen in Bara on Monday, Mohammad Rehman claimed that one Abdul Hamid Afridi of his tribe, who was an employee of the Foreign Office, had acted as a mediator between his family and government officials and sold the land at throwaway price.

He alleged that in return of the ‘deal’ the defunct Peshawar Development Authority had given away 300 plots to Hamid Afridi, which had later been sold at market price with a profit of millions of rupees.

Mr Rehman accused Hamid Afridi of fraudulently acquiring six one-kanal plots for his family members. He demanded that all the plots should be surrendered to the Shalobar tribe as it was the actual owner of the land.

Mr Rehman said that soon after striking the deal, Hamid Afridi built a huge house for himself in Islamabad.

He said he had asked former federal minister Mir Baz Kethran, Malik Waris Khan and Latif Afridi to resolve the matter through a jirga but Hamid Afridi refused to hand over the land.

He appealed to the president, the foreign minister and the Khyber Agency political agent to initiate an enquiry into the matter and return the prized Hayatabad plots to their original owners.