PTI seeks judicial commission on land issues following demolition of Haleem Adil Sheikh's farmhouse

Haleem Adil Sheikh claims Sindh govt was carrying out political vendetta against PTI leaders

Web Desk

February 08, 2021

PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh claims PPP is the “biggest land grabber” in Sindh
He says farmhouse was demolished because Sindh govt is carrying out a political vendetta against PTI leaders
PTI leader says demolition of farmhouse was an act of revenge against PTI's protest rally from Hyderabad to Karachi

KARACHI: Following the demolition of the farmhouse of the brother of Sindh Assembly opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh and registration of cases against him, the PTI leaders in Sindh have demanded a judicial commission to investigate land issues in the province.

Sheikh, in a press conference on Sunday, said his hands were clean and leaders of the ruling PPP are the “biggest land grabbers” in Sindh.

The PTI central vice president was flanked by MNA Jay Pirkash Ukrani, PTI Karachi President Khurrum Sher Zaman, MPAs Dr Imran Shah, Dua Bhutto, Karim Bux Gabol, PS-88 by-poll candidate Jansher Junejo and others.

The PTI leader claimed that the PPP-led Sindh government was carrying out a political vendetta against his party leaders.

“We have legal documents for every inch of our lands. These leased lands were purchased by my cousin from Muni Begum,” claimed the MPA.

“The deputy commissioner Malir had already made a report about these lands and after a committee was formed in 2011, the matter was approved by the Board of Revenue,” said Sheikh.

Firing a broadside at the PPP, the PTI leader alleged that Syed Owais Muzaffar Tapi, a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari, had illegally occupied thousands of acres of lands in Karachi.

“Now, provincial minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah is involved in illegal occupation of land on fake challans,” further alleged the PTI leader.

The PTI leader maintained that the land where the demolition took place was owned by his relatives which was leased to them and not occupied.

He said the demolition of the farmhouse on Saturday was an act of revenge against him because the PTI had staged a protest rally from Hyderabad to Karachi against sugar mills and the Omni Group.

“Since 2018, the PPP government tried its best to implicate me in false cases but it got no proof against me,” claimed the PTI leader.

The opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly further claimed that the anti-corruption department had sent a report to the Sindh chief secretary to take action against him, but the bureaucrat refused to take action saying that there was no evidence of land-grabbing in his case.

Sheikh went on to allege that government officials had attacked the farmhouse of his relatives on Saturday at the behest of the chief minister.

“The chief minister has lost senses after I became the opposition leader,” said the PTI leader.

Haleem Adil Sheikh booked for disruption in anti-encroachment drive

On Sunday, Sheikh was booked for attempted murder, interference in government duties, and disruption during an anti-encroachment drive carried out at his Malir farmhouse a day prior.

Karachi police said the first information report against Sheikh — the leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly — included clauses pertaining to disturbing peace, financial loss to government property, assault on government employees, attempted murder, intimidation, and interference in the government's work.

At least 70 people, including the PTI lawmaker, were named in the case filed at the Memon Goth police station on behalf of Muhammad Ayub, a resident of Karachi's Korangi neighbourhood.

The case was filed after an operation against Sheikh's family farmhouses in Karachi on Saturday in which anti-encroachment teams encountered resistance, with protesters throwing stones at government staff and smashing windows of their vehicles.