QUETTA, Jan 27: Dera Bugti district nazim Mir Mohammad Kazim Bugti denied on Thursday a claim that tribesmen had sold 400 acres of land in Sui for construction of a cantonment.

Speaking at a press conference in his office at Dera Bugti, the nazim said the tribesmen had refused to sell their forefathers' land. He alleged that security forces had bypassed the district government and district administration and occupied tribesmen's ancestral land.

The owners of the land in Sui, he added, had in writing communicated to the Collector of Revenue that they were unwilling to sell their land to the government to construct the cantonment.

The district nazim said the representatives of media in official briefing on Wednesday were misled regarding the sale of the land by the owners. It was also not correct that the government had made any payment to the owners of the land.

He said security forces had established check-posts at different places in the area to harass the people. He added that neither did they seek any permission nor did they inform the district government about the check posts. "We have not given them permission to establish such check posts."