NAB recovers land worth Rs21 bn in fake accounts case

ISLAMABAD: In the fake bank accounts reference, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered land worth Rs21 billion after an accountability court accepted a plea bargain request.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir conducted the hearing and accepted the request of Ehsan Elahi for plea bargain. Ehsan Ellahi confessed to illegally acquiring 262 acres of agricultural land in Malir’s Bin Qasim and entered a plea bargain in the case.

According to the NAB, 562 acres of land was exchanged illegally with land in Scheme 33’s Sector 24-A in 2012. “This was done in clear violation of Section 10(4) of Colonization of Government Land Act 1912.” The said section defines a tenant as the one who is in possession of the land.

Mohammad Yousuf Eidi and Ghulam Hussain Halari had applied for an exchange of land claiming that their land had been encroached. “In exchange, 562 acres of prime land of Pakistan Steel Mills and the government of Sindh was illegally transferred by a supervisory committee.” The committee comprised late BOR member Shahzer Shamoon, Ghulam Mustafa Phul, and former Malir DC Qazi Jaan Mohammad. They allowed “illegal exchange of state land for non-agriculture purpose”. Yousuf Eidi and Halari then transferred 262 acres of land “through registered lease deed to Ehsan Ellahi. They returned 300 acres to the government in 2019.

Elahi got 262 acres in Deh Joreji transferred to him. Fixty-eight acres were transferred to Al-Aqsa Builders and Developers and this land was sold to Amanullah Memon for Rs60 million. From the sum, money was given to Manzoor Qadir Kaka, former DG of the Sindh Building Control Authority, as a “kickback” to get NOC for the sale and advertisement from the authority for two projects: Gulistan-e-Hadeed and Malir Industrial Terminal. Sixty-five acres were transferred to the Rising Karachi Builders and Developers. One hundred and thirty-nine acres were transferred to Gandhara Enterprises.