THATTA, Feb 24 Incidents of land-grabbing in and around the district have multiplied after the government's announcement that a new model city by the name of Zulfiqarabad would be established near Thatta.

Although exact site for the proposed city has not been finalised yet but the mere announcement has watered land-grabbers' mouths and they are already out to encroach as much land as they can. There are reports of occupation of plots and land-grabbing right from Gaggar Phatak, border point of Thatta and Karachi, to Gujjo Town off the National Highway. They are mainly capitalising on destruction of entire record of the office of mukhtiarkar (revenue) Mirpur Sakro on Dec 27, 2007, following assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Although Sindh Board of Revenue has banned transactions of public and private property in five talukas of Thatta district, mainly in Thatta and Mirpur Sakro talukas till finalisation of feasibility report for Zulfiqarabad but the order seems to have failed to deter the lad-grabbers.

In such an incident, a group of people claiming to be activists of ruling party stormed a private poultry farm spread over 412 acres and dispossessed the owner and labourers working there by subjecting them to torture.

They demolished poultry sheds and other stuff worth millions of rupees and hoisted party flags on the farm.

The farm's owner Moinuddin said at a press conference at the press club on Wednesday that he moved sessions court after SHO's refusal to register case against alleged land-grabbers Noor Nabi Shah, Irfanullah, Ali Khan Soomro and others. The court ordered the SHO to lodge the FIR but he was not complying with the order, he said.

Source in the revenue department said that incidents of land-grabbing were on the rise and several such cases were in courts pending inquiries and litigation.