LAHORE: The Punjab Board of Revenue (BoR) has recommended registration of a criminal case against the district police officer (DPO) and some other police officers of Lodhran for illegally occupying sate land and leasing it out to a private person against rules and regulations.

While recommending action against the DPO and others to the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment director general, the BoR also ordered recovery of Rs20.8 million from the police officers that they allegedly received for illegally leasing out the state land.

The BoR also wrote to the Establishment Division,Islamabad, for taking action against the DPO over alleged corruption.

While declaring it an act of“challenging the writ of state”, the BoR asked the ACE to nominate in the FIR all the police officers allegedly involved in the scam, retrieve the state land in question and recover the lease amount from them.

Illegal occupation, lease of state land

The strong-worded letter written by the Member Colonies/Secretary to the Colonies Department of BOR,Punjab,has prompted officers of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSPs) to defend their colleague against what they call “a biased” action by the civil bureaucracy.

Some PSP officers Dawn spoke to termed it an“attempt to target the police”as they believed that the DPO and the other police officers used the land for the welfare of families of the police martyrs after getting written approval of the previous Lodhran deputy commissioner.

They criticised the BoR officers for allegedly sparing the former DC in their recommendations and seeking a criminal case against the DPO and other police officials, terming it a manifestation of the “anti-PSP bias” of civil bureaucracy.

In his report sent to the EACDG, the BoR secretary said it had been reported by(now former) Lodhran deputy commissioner that the district police illegally occupied state land measuring 419 kanal and 4 marla in Kahror Pacca tehsil and leased it out to one Khizer Hayat in the name of police welfare.

He said when the assistant commissioner concerned and his staff went to retrieve the illegally occupied state land, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abid Warraich, Dhnnot Station House Officer (SHO)Akram Bhutta, along with elite force personnel offered resistance to the officers.

The matter was then discussed by the DC and DPO Karar Hussain Syed, who was directed to hand over the possession of illegally occupied state land within 24 hours. The incident’s report was submitted by the deputy commissioner accordingly.

The secretary said a police department request for allocation of the said land for welfare purpose had been rejected by the BoR as it was not covered under the laid down policy.

“It is important to mention here that the state land is allocated to the provincial government departments for their operational use only and not for any other purpose”, reads the report.

The secretary stated that the act of illegal occupation of the state land by Lodhran police and its leasing out to a private person in the name of welfare is“unwarranted, highly objectionable and total dilution of rule of law and writ of the state. It can’t be accepted under any circumstances.”

The deputy commissioner being vested with the responsibility for custody of state land is well within legal rights to retrieve the same and acted as per law, the report said.

“The resistance by DPO Lodhran Karrar Hussain, DSP Abid Warraich, SHO Akram Bhutta and other police personnel during retrieval of state land constitutes a criminal offence and outright corruption as they are recipients of illegal lease money and proceeds from the land that cannot be condoned”, the report further reads.

He recommended to the EACDG that in view of the position explained above a case under the relevant provisions of law might be registered by name against the aforesaid police officers who illegally occupied state land and further illegally leased it out to a private person without any legal sanction,and who obstructed legal effort for retrieval of land by the assistant commissioner and revenue field staff.

Other provisions of law for obstructing a lawful act also needed to be invoked, the report said.

“It is added that the rent calculated to the tune of Rs20.8 million is to be recovered from DPO Mr Karrar Hussain, DSP Abid Warraich, SHO Akram Bhutta and other police officials”, reads the report.

“This is to be included in the FIR. It is further requested that the deputy commissioner Lodhran may be assisted for retrieval of state land in question on immediate basis,”the secretary said in the report.

Lodhran DPO strongly denied most of the allegations by citing an official document relating to the provision of state land to the police by the former AC of Kehror Pacca tehsil.

He said the request was sent by the former DPO for allocating the state land for police martyrs families welfare.

The DPO said a letter to this effect was also written by the Lodhran additional commissioner (Revenue) to the BOR for sparing the land on Aug 7, 2019.

Mr Karrar further said the matter was under discussion between the BoR and the police department to resolve it amicably.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2020