Elderly woman accuses Punjab minister of occupying ancestral land

ISLAMABAD: The ancestral land of a family has been occupied in Bani Gala area by the land mafia who wants to merge it with a nearby housing society.

The family has accused Punjab minister Aleem Khan of patronizing the land mafia who have occupied the 4-kanal land of Masoor Bibi and her sons. The family has lodged a complaint at the Bani Gala police station but no action has been taken.

After filing the police report, around 60-70 armed men entered the house of the aggrieved family, held the women hostage and tortured the 75-year-old woman who owns the land. The elderly woman said that they own their ancestral land since over six decades while the graves of their forefathers are also present there.

She accused the land mafia of occupying the land to merge it with the Park View Housing Society and threatening them that they own the land. She said her family owns the entire land in serial no. 39 while the occupiers want to them to identify the portion of their own land.

Decrying police inaction over her complaint, she said the dozens of heavily armed men have occupied her land and brought heavy machinery. When they attempted to stop them, the woman said the occupiers attacked her and tortured her sons.

She narrated the ordeal and said the occupiers attacked her younger son Rizwan with a pistol. They called the police who arrived after over two hours and took no action. She said the land mafia continues to work and has gained complete control of their land.

She claimed that there was no patwari (revenue officer) or eyewitness who could identify their lands while the perpetrators were brought from other cities. The woman alleged was Punjab minister and PTI leader Aleem Khan was patronizing the occupiers to merge with the housing society.

She appealed to the chief justice and army chief to provide justice and protect them from the land mafia who is forcing them to vacate their land. She also called for protection from the goons who are working allegedly at the behest of Aleem Khan.