KARACHI, May 18 The special anti-corruption court indicted on Monday a former municipal commissioner of Karachi in a land scam case.
Alauddin Sabir, the former commissioner of the Karachi Municipal Corporation, is charged with unlawfully allotting an amenity plot known as the KMC Gutter Baghicha, measuring 200 acres, to the KMC officers' cooperative housing society in 1993.
The suspect pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.
Judge Syed Gul Munir Shah summoned prosecution witnesses, directing them to record their statements on the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, the case was registered on the basis of an inquiry into a complaint (50/1997) of the anti-corruption establishment initiated on the application of Mohammad Tahir, general secretary of the Sindh Shehri Federation.
Alauddin Sabir and Syed Tanveer Abbas Naqvi, the then senior director of the KMC for land and estate, in connivance with the office-bearers of the society, got passed a resolution in the council on March 11, 1993, which recommended the grant of the land to the KMC officers' cooperative housing society at a rate of Rs10 and Rs15 per square yard. Its summary was forwarded on April 11, 1993 to the chief minister. However, the then chief secretary remarked “It would be unfair to convert the open park into a housing society,” the prosecution said.
It further alleged that the summary was never put up before the chief minister, but a fresh summary was directly forwarded on April 15, 1993 to the chief minister and got approved illegally by concealing the facts and without making any reference to the previous summary. Thus, the conversion of the amenity plot into a residential area and leasing out to the housing society in violation of the law caused huge losses to the national exchequer, it added.
Co-accused Tanveer Abbas Naqvi died and the proceedings against him abated on March 11, 2008.
A case (FIR 56/2001) was registered against Alauddin Sabir and Syed Tanveer Abbas Naqvi at the anti-corruption establishment in Karachi under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant or by banker, merchant), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 477 (fraudulent cancellation, destruction, etc, of will, authority to adopt or valuable security)/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 5 (2) of the Anti-corruption Act 1947.
The hearing was adjourned till June 4.
Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate (east) remanded on Monday four suspected militants in police custody till May 25.
The CID police arrested Mohammad Anwer alias Mohammad Asim, Rehan alias Mehmood, Azeem alias Yousuf and Ghulam Haider alias Baba in Model Colony on Sunday.
The police said they also seized a large number of weapons with explosives from the suspects, who are stated to be activists of a militant outfit.
A number of cases were registered against the suspects under Sections 353 and 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 13-D of the Arms Ordinance and Sections 4/5 of the Explosive Substance Act.