KARACHI, April 24: The Sindh government has retrieved 500 acres of prime land in Deh Lal Bhukkar, Keamari Town, from land mafia by demolishing the boundary wall and removing encroachments, Sindh Revenue Minister Dr Irfan Gul Magsi said here on Tuesday, adding that the market value of the land was in several billion rupees.

The minister was speaking on the occasion of the launching of anti-encroachment drive in Keamari Town under the supervision of DDO Revenue (Keamari Town) Mohammad Rafique Qureshi.

Dr Magsi said that extreme action would be taken against land-grabbers and no one would be allowed to usurp the state-owned land by raising structures overnight.

Expressing his determination to wipe out the land mafia, he said the mafia was a curse and it was duty of every citizen to join hands with the government to root it out from the society.

He also appealed to people not to indulge in any deal with landowners without verifying the ownership documents and this would be in their own interest.