ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate a major case of alleged land grabbing in the federal capital, after a distinguished former civil servant and academic reported being defrauded of more than 136 kanals of land in Islamabad.
The JIT, to be headed by the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, will include representatives from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan Navy, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and Intelligence Bureau (IB). Officials say the team has been directed to conduct a forensic probe and submit its findings at the earliest.
The complainant, Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan — a former Pakistan Administrative Service (ex-DMG) officer who secured a record 1084 marks in the CSS examinations in 1990, a record still unbeaten since independence — alleged in his petition to the prime minister that a fraudulent sale transaction was carried out for his land in connivance with officials of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) registration office and elements of the land mafia.
Dr Cyan, who holds a PhD in Economics from Georgia State University and has taught in Atlanta, has also served three times on the National Finance Commission and contributed to governance reforms in multiple countries. He resigned from the civil service to pursue an academic and international development career, but has continued to invest his efforts in Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad and the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to his petition, the disputed property comprises 136 kanals and 17 marlas in Mera Begwal, which his late father had purchased in 2002 and transferred to him in 2015. Dr Cyan claims that while he was on a UN assignment abroad, fraudulent documents - including a dubious Power of Attorney allegedly executed in favour of one of his farm workers - were used to sell the land to the Pakistan Navy Benevolent Association (PNBA) at a grossly undervalued rate. It has also been learnt that at least 16 payments were made to the farm worker over almost two years while the owners continued working on grafting olives and other improvements on the farm. As recently as August 2015, trees were shipped from Pattoki and planted on the farm. It is alleged that the services of a ‘land provider’, a known euphemism for land mafia were used to get land that he did not own.
“I have never consented to any sale of my land. Payments were made to my employee over two years without my knowledge, while not a single rupee was ever paid to me,” Dr Cyan stated in his petition.
The petition also alleges serious irregularities in the mutation process, including bypassing mandatory biometric verification of the owner, accepting a forged affidavit, and ignoring the requirement of a public session for mutation approval.
Dr Cyan further contended that PNBA itself was defrauded, as the purported sale consideration recorded in revenue documents (about Rs218 million) is significantly lower than both the payments reportedly made (Rs383 million) and the actual market value of the land, which he estimates at over Rs900 million.
He urged the prime minister to treat the case as a “test” against Islamabad’s notorious land mafia, which, he warned, threatens not only ordinary citizens but also the credibility of national institutions.
“Fraudulent actions of the land mafia are likely to tarnish the image of the Pakistan Navy and the Armed Forces. This must be forensically probed,” he appealed.
The prime minister, taking immediate notice, has directed the JIT to fix responsibility and proceed strictly under the law against all involved, including officials found complicit in the fraudulent transfer.