An influential group of land grabbing mafia is active in Old
Bara Road, University Town, Peshawar, and has adapted a very unique way of
grabbing plots/land from public or in other words demand a huge sum of money as
extortion by hook or crook. The modus operandi of this group is simple but very
complex for those people who are not aware of revenue record and trust the
seller and the area patwari. It is necessary to mention here that the Patwari
being the custodian of the record plays a vital role in land grabbing process as
they provide even minutiae details regarding properties of the locality to the
land mafia.
The ancestors, of this land mafia group, owned joint properties in Old Bara
Road, University Town, Peshawar, Moza Pawaka, who have sold it at the market
value at that time to different people back in the 80s and 90s. The seller of
the land/plot would intentionally with the connivance of patwari enter/register
in the mutation document “Inteqal” one or two original khasras of the land
situated on the spot while the rest of the khasras are situated miles away or
even nonexistent while the innocent purchaser, would never have an idea of the
real fact. As time passed and the value of these properties increased 100 times
their second and third-generations realized the fact and got involved in the
properties sold by their ancestors’ decades ago. For instance, they very
cunningly come to the doorstep and inform the owner who has purchased the
plot/house direct from their ancestors or a third party years ago and explains
that the owner only owns a small portion in this piece of land while the rest
plot is in the name of their ancestor. Furthermore, the land mafia forcefully
insists to separate the specified portion to them or pay huge amount for their
land claiming to be sold by their ancestors otherwise the owner may face dire
consequences or may also face litigation in the court of law.
For instance, the owner of a 2 Kanal plot who purchased the property from the
land mafia’s ancestors in the mid-70s and constructed a house on it. Living in
the house for three decades the possessor of the property converted his house
into a guest house. Furthermore, in the year 2017, the same house was demolished
and started construction of 7 story apartments building on the plot. During the
completion of apartments building the land mafia was silent but after completion
of the structure, the land mafia started using their tactics for demanding
extortion. The land mafia approached the owner and explained that their
ancestors had not sold
him the whole plot and a few marlas in the same plot are still in the name of
the land mafia’s father, so the owner of the plot is advised to separate their
portion from the building or pay for it otherwise the land mafia will go to
court and separate their portion from the building or may use other methods of
force for recovery of extortion. The owner of the plot then has no option but to
sit in a fake Jirga arranged by the land mafia and force the possessor to meet
the demands of mafia.
Similarly, a businessman of the locality on the condition of anonymity said that
a young man inherited 4.5 Kanal plot from his father who purchased it from a
third party in the 70s and since then living there for the last four decades. A
few months back the same land mafia approached him and demanded the extortion of
10 million rupees from him. While the innocent man refused to pay extortion the
land mafia first started intimidated him and later on brutally beaten by 12
Ghundas “gangsters” of the land mafia due to which the innocent person spent a
few days in the hospital as well.
Furthermore, if by any chance the khasras of the plot/house are found correct
the land grabber mafia change their strategy and inform the owner of the
plot/house that their ancestors sold the plot only, and not the pathway so the
owner has no right to use their pathway unless the owner of the plot/house pay
them a huge amount of compensation in shape of extortion. This fact of
blackmailing of this land mafia group is evident from their court cases against
more than 100 innocent families living in Afzal Abad, University Town, Peshawar.
Moreover, it is important to mention here that the current patwari of Moza Pwaka
is also in connivance of land mafia and provide every possible means of help to
this group. It is necessary to mention here that the current patwari (Alam Zeb
Afridi) is not only issuing false and fabricated copies of mutations ‘Inteqal’
to the public but even tempers revenue records for the sake of a handful amount
he receives from the land mafia. Additionally, the land mafia has also provided
a free house/accommodation and an office to the patwari in Hadi Lane, the same
area so that the patwari can very comfortably provide help.
To sum-up, the land mafia is active in every corner of Peshawar city but their
tactics are changed and the innocent public is openly intimidated and forcefully
ripped off of their valuable lands or in alternative their hard-earned lifetime
reserves in shape of extortion. Patwaries under the nose of the revenue
department plays a crucial role during the land-grabbing process by
providing key details of properties to the land mafia. Despite several
crackdowns on the land mafia groups and the government's assurances to prevent
the public and to clean the city from land mafia yet nothing has been done and
the land mafia is still active in the city which clearly shows the failure of
law enforcement agencies and district administration. The valuable rights of the
public are at stake therefore, an immediate investigation of Patwari of Moza
Pawaka in this matter is needed. Moreover, the NAB is requested to formulate a
policy for curbing this menace of getting the innocent people by fake Jirga’s,
and the rouge people, patwaries and land grabbers.