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KARACHI, Aug 10: A considerable amount of time and resources of the police is spent on dealing with the issue of land-grabbing, which happens to be a civil matter meant to be tackled by the courts. However, people look to the police for quick-fix solutions as they dread legal battles that take years to settle a dispute.
Over the years land fraud, particularly in Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar, has developed into an industry with the backing of builders, bureaucrats, politicians and police officers.
The sophistication of this fraud has grown to such an extent that the original owner of a piece of property remains unaware of the occupation of his land until he sees construction coming up on it. When he (the real owner) goes to court or reports the matter to the police showing his original documents, to his utter surprise he is shown a decree issued by the court in favour of the occupying party.
Explaining this sophisticated method of land-grabbing, a police officer says that for instance parties X and Y – who are actually in cahoots – go to court as two different parties. X files a suit against Y claiming that the latter has grabbed his land, showing documents in support of his claim. Somehow Y backs out. The court issues a decree in favour of the complainant, X. The real owner eventually learns of the matter when construction begins on his property and rushes to the police or court. The court issues a stay order on the case. Once the stay is granted by court, the police cash in on the situation, demanding money from any of the parties that try to carry out construction on the plot. However, the aggrieved party — the real owner of the land — has to face a long-drawn legal battle just to prove the fact that the property belongs to him/her.
The police further mint money when the parties approach them for help in vacating the land from the rival party. An officer takes money for vacating the possession of the land from the rival party, but there are no guarantees on part of the police even after receiving hefty amounts. Similarly, if the rival party goes to the police, it can get the same treatment, but at a price.
Occasionally, the police jump into such land fraud cases where the complainant is genuine and the rival party is a known land-grabber. However, this only takes place when an officer of good repute is posted at the relevant police station. “One cannot just choose not to act on an issue because it’s of a civil nature, witnessing that the criminal elements are gobbling up the land of a genuine owner,” remarked a station house officer.
“Some tapedars and mukhtiarkars of the Board of Revenue I know have either established their own construction companies and have become builders or have settled abroad and live in luxury on the money earned through land-grabbing,” said a sub-inspector formerly posted in Gulshan Town.
“Occupation of private or government land is not possible without the connivance of officials of the Board of Revenue, land utilization department, land regulating authority and police,” said Gulshan SP Sohail Zafar Chattha. These issues have the potential to transform into clashes of ethnic and even sectarian nature, said SP Chattha, citing a dispute between Mr Thanvi and Maulana Mirza Yousuf over a sizable piece of land in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
With the change of every government, a new group of land-grabbers becomes active in occupying land, establishing channels with the ‘right’ people in the government. During the previous PML(Q)-led government, some local legislators had become notorious for patronizing land-grabbing groups, an official of the Board of Revenue said.
“The state of affairs of the Board of Revenue can be judged from the fact that for a posting of mukhtiarkar of Gadap Town, Rs2.5 million is required,” the official said.
Political parties also play a crucial role in backing the land-grabbing groups, who use the party’s clout in their activities.
‘Apartment-grabbing’
In a similar fashion, vacant apartments are also occupied by the land mafia. The apartments in the jurisdiction of the Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Sharea Faisal and Sachal police stations often become the target.
Recently, two apartments located on the main University Road owned by a woman were forcibly occupied reportedly by activists of a political party. The woman happened to be an American citizen, who reported the matter to the US consulate. Subsequently, the US consulate reportedly brought the illegal occupant of the apartment to the notice of the Sindh governor, who in turn directed the administration to inquire into the matter. Similarly, a number of apartments located on Rashid Minhas Road and in the jurisdiction of the Sharea Faisal police have met the same fate.
“Another aspect of land-grabbing that takes place is the settlement of the Odh community. They occupy land by setting up hundreds of huts. Often they end up taking alternative government land applying pressure tactics,” an officer said.
SSP Abdul Khaliq Shaikh, who remained TPO of Gulshan-i-Iqbal in 2003, said the defective record of the Board of Revenue is one of the primary causes which the land-grabbers exploited to their benefit in Scheme 33.
“A police officer is not competent enough to decide the matter as he has no access to the record of the BoR; both parties come up with the documents claiming their right,” he said. “Invariably, both parties commit offences against each other through the use of force or fabricating cases against the other party.”
