KARACHI, Jan 19: Over 10,000 files of houses and open plots of almost all categories have gone missing from the record room of the defunct KDA’s Land Department which has now become a part of the city district government’s Revenue Department.

Moreover, thousands of disputed plots’ cases are pending a settlement, informed sources told Dawn.

The missing files not only pertained residential, commercial and industrial categories but also the amenity plots in various schemes and townships.

Inquiries made in this regard show that there are hundreds of plots in possession of the parties other than the legitimate ones. The occupiers have even carried out construction on these plots.

According to sources, the modus operendi which some estate agents had been using to deprive the genuine allottees of their properties was that whenever an owner visits them for selling his property, they first get possession of photocopy of documents. After tampering with the documents, by inserting a fake name as owner, they lodge an FIR claiming that the original documents had gone missing. On the basis of the FIR, duplicate documents of the property had been got released in connivance with employees of the defunct KDA’s land department.

About majority of employees of the land department, the sources said that they either owned or worked for estate agencies directly or indirectly.

As far as duplication of thousands of plots and missing files relating to different townships such as North Karachi, Shah Faisal, Malir, Korangi and Landhi townships, is concerned, the officials of defunct KDA’s Estate and Enforcement Department, had also played a nasty game, causing mental agony to the original allottees of plots, sources added.

Though the missing files of houses and plots belonged to almost all localities of the city (except for those housing schemes which had earlier been handed over to MDA and LDA), a maximum number of files which are missing from the record room of defunct KDA’s land department belonged to North Karachi, Malir, Shah Faisal, Korangi and Landhi townships.

Surprisingly, a file of an amenity plot No ST-13, situated in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block 13 (KDA Scheme No 36), which was earlier reportedly allotted to the KDA’s collective bargaining agent (CBA) for constructing KDA employees club, is also missing from the record room.

Another case of missing file pertained to an amenity plot, measuring 4,000 square yards in Clifton, which was reportedly allotted to a beautician for setting up two beauty parlour and a health club by a former prime minister.

Yet another discrepancy, which came to light during the course of a recent scrutiny of the record available in KDA’s land department, related to the allotment of dozens of apartments to KDA and KBCA officials in the KDA’s Overseas Flats in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. Although these flats were built by the KDA exclusively for the overseas Pakistanis, dozens of defunct KDA and the KBCA officials, including at least one incumbent KDA director, a former director and a number of KBCA’s officials got such flats allotted in their names.

“It was beyond one’s comprehension that how the KDA and KBCA officials were allotted flats in the apartment building which was meant for overseas Pakistanis alone,” the sources said, adding that on the one hand, a number of overseas Pakistanis, who were interested in the scheme meant for them were told that all flats had already been booked, and on the other, KDA and KBCA officials were allotted flats in the scheme.