SAPM Shahzad Akbar's brother accused of illegally occupying land near Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: An ongoing land dispute between relatives of two top members of the federal cabinet has resulted in the transfers of at least three officers of the revenue department and police, Geo News learnt on Tuesday.

The tussle originally stems from claims made by Jawad Malik, the nephew of federal minister for privatization Muhammad Mian Soomro, who accuses Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar's brother, Murad Akbar, of illegally occupying his land in Rawalpindi's Mandra area near the Grand Trunk Road.

Official notifications appear to show that at least two top civil officers of the revenue department have so far been shuffled or let go due to alleged misuse of authority owing to the high-level power struggle between the two top members of the federal cabinet.

The civil servants include former Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Sardar Saifullah Khan Dogar and ex-Additional Deputy Commissioner for revenue Rizwan Qadeer. Saifullah was transferred on January 20 and replaced with Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Anwar-ul-Haq, while Rizwan Qadeer was transferred two days earlier. An assistant superintendent of police (ASP) in Gujjar Khan has also been transferred due to the dispute.

Sources have also told Geo News that in the ongoing power struggle, SAPM Akbar also summoned the Rawalpindi commissioner and deputy commissioner to the Prime Minister's Office and severely reprimanded both before they were transferred.

Jawad Malik, Soomro's nephew, claims Murad Akbar had brought 30 personnel as well as construction equipment on Jan 17 to erect boundary walls on the flour mill land owned by him in a bid to illegally occupy it. However, Malik claims his security guards and employees immediately called police, who arrived at the site and stopped them from constructing boundary walls and occupying the land.

Sources told Geo News that ADC for Revenue, Rizwan Qadeer, had inspected the land after the spat, reviewed the relevant documents, and ruled against Murad Akbar. Qadeer also presented a report on the matter, allegedly upsetting SAPM Akbar.

Malik alleges that the PM’s Special Assistant then misused his authority to pressurise the Punjab Revenue Authority's Rawalpindi office, Punjab police, and other institutions.

Sources added that a few years ago, Murad Akbar had submitted a request to distribute the land according to a division claim; however, that request was denied by the then Rawalpindi revenue office team. Murad had submitted the request again a year ago and pressurised the team to rule in his favour.

Malik claims the land in question was bought 23 years ago by Malik Munir, the grandfather of Jawad Malik and relative of federal minister Muhammad Mian Soomro. He claims that his family has owned the land since 1986 and that a flour mill has been constructed at the site since 1987.