MUZAFFARGARH, Feb 5: Profits and rents worth millions of rupees arising out of the 11,250 acres donated by a philanthropist to this district around 100 years ago are being misused by officials and local politicians for long and the acting district nazim has taken notice of this large-scale financial misappropriation.

The officials in connivance with politicians have also encroached upon large chunks of the land owned by the district government after forging the revenue records and annual profits accruing over the years to the tune of Rs3.1 million by 2005 have decreased to just Rs16,000 in 2007 and even that money, too, is not being utilised to serve the purposes the land was donated for.

Sardar Kouray Khan, a big landlord of the area, had donated 450 squares of land (one square equals 25 acres) to the district through his will around a century ago. He bequeathed that the income arising out of the land should be spent on welfare of the masses.

The defunct district council owned this land before the commencement of the district government system in 2001. Despite massive embezzlements prior to the introduction of the local governments, the land was still generating a handsome amount that could have revolutionised this otherwise under-developed district of the Southern Punjab if used properly, but it had not happened so.

Sources said that this land was generating Rs3.1 million worth of profits annually during the stint of former district nazim, Sultan Hunjra, but during the tenure of Hunjra’s successor, Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, the profits dropped to just Rs16,000 a year.

Jatoi won the district nazim’s slot from the platform of ARD by defeating the then ruling PML-Q’s candidate. Jatoi, a former PPP member of the National Assembly, was one of the two district nazims of the province who belonged to the opposition parties and that’s why the then provincial chief minister belonging to the PML-Q allegedly developed aversion to him.

Jatoi resigned from the office of district nazim a couple of months ago and is now contesting again for a National Assembly slot on the PPP ticket. After Jatoi’s resignation, Allah Dar Khar was elected acting district nazim.

Talking to Dawn, Khar said he had taken notice of this gigantic financial scam and had directed the officials concerned a few days to produce before him within 10 days all records pertaining to the 450 squares of land donated by Sardar Kauray Khan.

He said that Sardar Kauray Khan had bequeathed that the income of his land should be spent on welfare of the masses, but no such project had so far been launched in this district. He said he would try to retrieve every penny of the embezzled money worth billions of rupees from the plunderers.

He said there was massive corruption in many district departments, particularly in the revenue department, and he would take every possible action against the corrupt elements. The acting nazim said he would send this case to the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency for probe and appropriate action.

He said when he summoned the record pertaining to Sardar Kauray Khan’s land, it stirred all the corrupt officials and now they were running from pillar to post to save their skins. He said they were also motivating politicians to influence him to shelve this probe.

Sources said that hundreds of acres of this land had been sold by revenue officials and many others occupied by the local politicians and the likely investigation would be shocking for several people who had been at the helm of affairs of this district during last many years.

The acting nazim said that he had formed a team, headed by EDO Community Development Malik Khair Mohammad Budh, to probe the alleged sales or encroachments of the entire government land in the whole district by land grabbers and report back within two weeks.

He said that thousands of acres other than the 450 squares donated by Sardar Kauray Khan had also been grabbed by politicians and officials or their records stood embezzled, depriving the district government of ownership of these lands.

Khar said that he had also sent notices to the fisheries and livestock departments, requiring them to vacate their offices they were occupying without paying any rent to the district government for long.

He said arrears of rent worth millions of rupees had become due and that he would retrieve each and every penny from the defaulters.

Qayyum Jatoi told Dawn that no district government official obeyed him during his tenure because of the interference of former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi in the district’s administrative affairs.

He said the officials had misused the money arising out of Sardar Kauray Khan’s bequeathed land and the scam must be investigated thoroughly.