Illegal sale of federal govt land in Haripur: NAB initiates inquiry against two politicians, officials

PESHAWAR: The scandal of the illegal sale of federal government land has come to the surface with the connivance of government officials in Haripur. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Peshawar has launched an inquiry against two politicians and officials of the Revenue Department, Haripur, for illegally transferring valuable government land to a private party and further selling it unlawfully.

According to documents available with this scribe, land measuring 319 Kanal and 16 Marla located in Qazian, Tehsil, and District Haripur were acquired for Tarbella Cotton and Textile Mills by the federal government. The said land was transferred in the name of the federal government. Tarbela Cotton and Spinning mills were established on the acquired land by the government.

However, the mill remained functional for few years but in 1986, four hundred thousand shares of the mill were transferred to M/s PEMSECO. Later in 1986, M/s PEMSECO had transferred these shares to Malik Abdul Qayyum and Iftekhar Ahmed for Rs 34.25 per share. Interestingly, only shares were transferred but no immovable property of the mill was sold to anyone. The officials of the Revenue Department and two politicians changed the title of Land in Fard-e-Badar without permission of the federal government.

Later, the land of the mill was illegally converted into plots and sold unlawfully, causing a loss of millions of rupees to the government. Accordingly to NAB sources report was sought from Commissioner Hazara but the revenue department failed to provide a record of the land despite several reminders on which the complaint has been turned into an inquiry.