RAWALPINDI: An anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi issued arrest warrants on Thursday against seven persons, including the former Bahria Town chief Malik Riaz and his son Ali Riaz, in a land fraud case, DawnNews reported.

All accused were absent from the hearing, earning the ire of and resulting in the issue of arrest warrants by the Special Court of Justice Chaudhry Ameer Mohammad Khan.

The accused, against whom the warrants were issued included Malik Riaz, Ali Riaz, Muhammad Ashfaq, Melad Bibi, Iqbal Hussain Shah, Sheikh Sajid ur Rehman and Iqbal.

The next hearing has been scheduled for June 25 and the court has ordered all accused to appear for hearing.

Earlier in October 2011, an anti corruption court of Rawalpindi had issued arrest warrants for Malik Riaz and Ali Riaz  after the anti corruption establishment (ACE) of Punjab submitted the evidence against the tycoon and his associates in an alleged fraud case registered in 2009 and involving 1,401 kanals of land near Rawat.

Malik Riaz himself is the complainant in four civil suits pertaining to land disputes pending in the courts of Rawalpindi and is facing 57 criminal and civil cases regarding land grabbing or company matters in the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench and in the sessions courts of Rawalpindi.