ETPB reclaims Karachi land worth billions; reoccupied hours later

ISLAMABAD: The staff of the Evacuee Trust Properties Board (ETPB) on Friday carried out an operation against illegal occupants in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi and recovered three acres of commercial land worth billions of rupees. However, the plot was reoccupied shortly after the operation concluded.

The action against the encroachers was carried out on the instructions of the Chairman of the One-Man Commission, Shoaib Suddle, established under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, as well as the ETPB chairman. The operation was supported by officials from the FIA, the Deputy Administrator Karachi, local police, ETPB security personnel, and heavy machinery. During the drive, boundary walls and illegal superstructures built on the land at various locations in Sohrab Goth were demolished.

Later, Karachi Deputy Administrator Shahid Ali wrote to the ETPB chairman, revealing that an NGO had been constructing a dispensary on the land in collaboration with the Sindh government’s Health Department. Although the structure was demolished during the operation, the land was reoccupied soon after ETPB staff left the site. He suggested that the board should take complete administrative control of the property and deploy at least 25 to 25 armed security guards to prevent encroachment.