MUZAFFARGARH, Dec 8: Anjuman Patwarian and the All Pakistan Clerks Association have joined hands to resist an administrative move to penalise a ‘corrupt patwari’.

The Anjuman and APCA observed a strike on Friday against the district coordination officer and the assistant commissioner and condemned the arrest of patwari Shafi Makwal.

The All Punjab Teachers Union has also announced that it will join the strike from Monday.

The DCO office sources said that last week DCO Ibrar Mirza received some complaints against Shafi Makwal that he had incomplete record. He ordered AC Sajjad Hasnain to check the revenue record. When the AC sought the record, the patwari did not obey his orders. The AC got him arrested through Khangarh police.

Station House Officer Mahboob Tangwani said they had arrested the patwari, but within hours, a PML-Q forward bloc member approached them and got the patwari released. He said they had not registered any case against him. He said the intended case against the patwari was that he had lost the record.

When the patwari was held, the Anjuman Patwarian and Apca started agitation against the DCO and the AC.

Anjuman Patwarian President Shahid Nawaz Khan Chandia said the ‘harassment’ of their colleague had panicked them. The situation worsened when administrator Muzaffar Sial issued show cause notices to the patwaris who had joined protest.

Talking to Dawn, DCO Ibrar Mirza said that he had received several complaints against Patwari Makwal who was looting people and his revenue record was incomplete. He said he ordered AC Sajjad to take action against him. The DCO claimed that he had formed a committee which would check the record of all the patwaris.

Assistant Commissioner Sajjad Hasnain said that he had called union leaders for negotiation and the matter would be resolved soon.

Some sources said local MPAs were behind the strike because DCO Mirza was not obliging them. The DCO had started inquiries in TMAs, buildings department and community development departments where huge embezzlements had been found.

In the last week MPAs led by PML-N leaders Sultan Hunjra and Abdullah Shah Bukhari visited Lahore for the transfer of DCO but chief minister did not oblige them.

PML-N MPAs Jawad Khar and Imran Qureshi said they had visited Lahore to complain the chief minister against the DCO.

PPP MPAs Irshad Sial and Bilal Khar said they were happy with the performance of the DCO and rejected the strike.