LAHORE, July 27: Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, a suspended additional director general of the Federal Investigation Agency, had allegedly ‘obliged’ PML-N MNA Aqeel Anjum by surrendering the government land measuring 73 kanals (worth millions) in his favour.

Mr Qureshi, whose removal from the FIA brought the superior judiciary and the government at loggerheads, had investigated the National Police Foundation (NPF) land scam as its managing director.

The Interior Ministry verifying Mr Qureshi’s findings in the NPF land scam has stated that he put up the total liability against Mr Aqeel of 126 kanals instead of 200 kanals and thus made an attempt to favour the PML-N parliamentarian, causing a huge financial loss to the national exchequer.

Aqeel had courted arrest after his supporters got him freed from the police custody in Islamabad this month.

Mr Qureshi, who hogged the limelight in the multi-billion National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) scam, had been suspended from the FIA for “releasing the contents of his letter to DG to the media” early this month.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Qauid says its apprehension that Mr Qureshi had the backing of the PML-N leadership in implicating its leader, Moonis Elahi, and favouring the PML-N MNA stands vindicated.

“Mr Qureshi has been acting to please the Sharifs and eyeing a political career on their party’s platform,” PML-Q information leader Kamil Ali Agha told Dawn.

“In order to be in the good books of Sharifs, he even created a lot of administrative problems for Prime Minister Gilani who had gone all the way to support his brother, Mazhar Qureshi, in Sargodha by-poll for NA-68 seat,” he said.

Mr Agha further said Zafar Qureshi had deliberately restricted the whole NICL case to Moonis in order to give a “clean chit” to the main players of the scam. “In NICL case, Moonis’s name is not in the FIR showing how smartly the main focus has been shifted on him to achieve the vested interest,” he said and urged the apex court to take note of the facts.

As Mr Qureshi is not allowed to speak to the media, his close associate involved in the inquiry told Dawn he (Qureshi) had done a preliminary inquiry into the NPF scam and pinpointed a difference of 229 kanals of land in the sale/purchase transaction with Mr Aqeel causing a loss of Rs6 billion to the exchequer.

The official said how Mr Qureshi could give a favour to the PML-N MNA when he had unearthed the scam and on his report the Supreme Court took the suo motu. “The government is trying to malign Mr Qureshi,” he said.

According to a letter of the Interior Ministry which is forwarded to all concerned, “the total outstanding liability against Aqeel Anjum on account of affiliation of the land and duplicate sale/purchase of land given by the ex-director housing is 200 kanals (page 12 of the inquiry report). The managing director in his finding (para 8 page 33) has shown 126 kanals and 14 marlas total liability.

“In the minutes of the meeting of the Committee of Administration he put up the same figure of 126 kanals and 14 marlas instead of 200 kanals.

Figures not reconciled, concession given had to be justified or got approved from the competent authority. It is cheating with the Supreme Court as well as the Committee of Administration causing wrongful loss of Rs740 million.”

The letter further says: “The National Police Foundation had to retrieve 23-kanal land of crystal courts fraudulently got allocated by Anjum Aqeel.

This piece comprised 9-kanal land of killa No 229 and 230/1 and 13-kanal 9-marla transferred by Aqeel on account of affiliation on 25-3-2004 and a front of 340 feet. This land was transferred at 605sqyd/kanal.

“Now NPF authorities have divided the front giving 170-foot front to Aqeel and has got a possession of nine kanals of killa No 229, 230 at 605 sqyd and 13 kanals at 500 sqyd/kanal (with a loss of two kanal land).”

“By dividing the front, NPF authorities have surrendered 11 kanals owned by NPF to Anjum Aqeel. The land handed over to Aqeel is worth one billion rupees.”

Aqeel in his reply claimed that the letter says he has handed over excess possession for which NPF has not paid anything whereas he has got possession charges of 474 kanal in excess of his entitlement at 16,000 kanal (total amount 474 x 16,000= 5,824,000). This liability has not been included in the FIR.

Furthermore, an arrear of Rs5.6 million has been outstanding on account of development charges of the plots allotted to Mr Aqeel. The amount has not been mentioned in the FIR, the letter says.

The Supreme Court has reserved its order after the government secretaries failed to file reactions on the suspension of Qureshi on behalf of the prime minister and the interior minister.