Govt to move cases of cooperative housing societies facing various allegations to NAB, FIA

Cases of societies found guilty in inquiries regarding land irregularities and financial discrepancies in cooperative housing societies may be referred to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the anti-corruption authorities for further investigation and action.

Alongside terrorism, target killings, extortion, street crime and drugs, land grabbing in Karachi has emerged as a significant problem in recent years. The caretaker government had made decisions to address this issue, but significant arrests or actions had not been witnessed during its term.

After a detailed investigation and a scrutiny of the records of cooperative housing societies, it has been found that various cooperative housing societies have come under the control of land mafias through dummy management committees.

Cooperative Housing Societies Registrar Zameer Abbasi told The News that they are currently conducting inquiries against 35 cooperative housing societies, which involve various allegations such as land

grabbing, irregularities, corruption, dummy elections/administrations, etc.

“As these inquiries progress and guilty societies are identified, we will continue to refer their cases to different departments, including NAB, FIA and anti-corruption, for further investigation and action. These corrupt committees collaborate with land mafias to manipulate land records, facilitating easy land grabbing and illegal transactions for personal gains.”

Abbasi said that the corrupt committees meticulously organise the records of committee members in such a way that when elections are held in the society, they can easily manipulate the process to elect their own dummy individuals into key positions.

This enables them to make decisions in line with the directives of these dummy committees and land grabbers, he pointed out. “Now irregularities have been uncovered and efforts are being made to eradicate them completely. We have initiated a comprehensive crackdown against land mafia elements and their collaborators.”

He said that cooperative societies are intended to provide people with land at prices that are affordable so that they can buy plots and build their homes.

During inquiries it was revealed that there are many societies in Karachi that were allotted as far back as the 1970s, yet not a single house has been constructed there to date, he added.

Instead, he remarked, the entire area of the cooperative society remains vacant, with only the cooperative society’s board displayed outside. Dummy administrations/committees are often installed in these societies, he explained.

“When we initiated inquiries into these cooperative societies, it became evident that these are the societies where land grabbers are basically directly involved or operate behind the scenes. They either have direct involvement or operate through proxies, arranging dummy elections to elect their own people and hand over administration to them.”

He said that these are the same individuals who repeatedly sell plots within the same society. What typically happens is that they sell a plot initially, then on some pretext or other, cancel the sale, and when the rates go up, they sell the same plot again at a higher price, he added.

“If you think about it, what would be the price of a plot today that was allotted in 1970? In such a situation, plots tend to remain high in price, and this is how the cycle of plot rates stays high, and the process of plot cancellation or resale continues.”

He said that since they do not have many administrators, they were appointed wherever it was deemed necessary. In other societies they have appointed election committees, he added.

Additionally, he pointed out, they are conducting audits and inquiries. Not only that, he continued, but they have also issued a new format and instructions.

He explained that previously, only those who owned the plot were eligible for cooperative society elections, but now those who own a house and reside there are considered eligible for elections.

“It means we have taken some actions, such that land grabbers or dummy/fake administrations are now unable to cancel or resell plots. Instead, they have been compelled to ensure construction in their respective societies and hand over possession to the rightful owners so that they can reside there,” he pointed out.

“This is why if a survey were conducted now, many societies in Karachi would appear to have undergone significant development, where previously there was no construction. Before, the only activity was the cycle of plot cancellation and resale, leading to corruption. However, now we are witnessing more construction activities even in such societies.”

Zameer said that according to the new criteria, it is necessary for eligibility in the election that you have your own house within the society and you reside there with your family, then all the documents of the candidate would be verified and scrutinised, and only after that they would be eligible for the election.

He said that this is why many land grabbers are currently displeased with the government and are running continuous campaigns against the department. The cooperative housing society department urges everyone who have been a victim of such groups to immediately contact their offices with all the relevant documents, he added.

He also said that the department is in constant communication with the law enforcement agencies to enforce the law against land grabbers, and soon a grand operation would be conducted to curb their activities.

He urged the public to report any activities of dummy committees and land grabbers in cooperative societies immediately, fulfilling their duty as responsible citizens. He made the assurance that their identities would be kept confidential.