MANSEHRA: The district administration has ordered the suspension of the mutation of around 2,000 kanals of government landin the Lassan Nawab area, allegedly transferred illegally by former MNA Nawabzada Salaudden Saeed to him and his family.
“The former lawmaker had illegally transferred 4,500 kanals of government land to himself and family members. We have so far retrieved 2,529 kanals, while the process for reclaiming the remaining land is ongoing,” Deputy Commissioner Khalid Iqbal told Dawn on Monday.
He said the matter was one of the district’s biggest land scams and was currently under investigation by the anti-corruption establishment’s Special Investigation Wing.
“A former deputy commissioner had unearthed the scam in 1998, revealing that Mr Saeed had got government land in Lassan Nawab, Shakoki and nearby localities transferred to him and his wife, brother and sisters,” he said.
Mr Iqbal said he challenged the land transfer in the Peshawar High Court but his petition was dismissed in 2001, declaring the land government property.
He said that earlier this year, the ACE registered a corruption case after which the lawmaker retransferred 2,529 kanals to the government and the remaining 2,000 kanals, allegedly sold off by Mr Saeed and his family, were also being processed for repossession.
“Since the ban on mutations, dozens of people have approached the administration and ACE, saying the former MNA and his family sold that land on them,” he said.
However, Alamzeb Tanoli, counsel for Mr Saeed, denied allegations, claiming that the land in question was inherited from his client’s royal ancestors of the former Amb state.
“My client served as MNA from 1985 to 2005. His elder son was elected MPA in 2018, and the younger one is currently the tehsil nazim of Oghi. They have never been involved in financial corruption,” he said.
The ACE has announced that the recovered 2,529 kanals of land worth over Rs1.4 billion have been retransferred to the government through an official mutation order issued by Mansehra’s deputy commissioner earlier this year.
Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2025