Fact-check: Is Dr Uzma Khan’s land in Layyah worth Rs6 billion?

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s sister Dr Uzma Khan is in possession of 5,261 kanals of land in Layyah, Punjab, worth a whopping Rs6 billion, allege multiple online posts, as well as a local anti-graft body.

The claim is incorrect. The actual value of the land is around Rs130 million to Rs500 million.

Claim

On June 11, a Twitter user wrote that Uzma Khan and her husband have been accused of fraudulently acquiring 5,261 kanals of land worth Rs6 billion for only Rs130 million.

The tweet has been retweeted over 120 times and liked nearly 250 times, to date.

On June 11, the Anti-Corruption Establishment Punjab also tweeted a complaint lodged against Dr Uzma Khan and her husband, which stated that a “mega corruption scandal” of the former prime minister’s family has been “exposed”.

“Dr Uzma Khan and her husband bought 5,261 kanals of land worth approximately Rs6 billion by forgery for only Rs130 million,” read the document.

(An officer of the Punjab government’s Anti-Corruption Establishment confirmed that the above Twitter handle belonged to his department).

Identical text was shared by other Twitter users as well here and here.

Fact

The current market price of 5,261 kanals of land in the Chaubara area of Layyah is approximately Rs131 million to Rs500 million not Rs6 billion, several real estate agents, government officials and residents in the area told Geo Fact Check.

Two residents of the Nawan Kot village said, on the condition of anonymity, that if an owner does not have possession documentation then the person can sell the land for a price of Rs200,000 per acre, or Rs25,000 per kanal.

Using the above rate of the land, the worth of 5,261 kanals of land comes out to an estimated Rs131 million.

The same was confirmed by two property agents in the area, adding that if a land owner had legal possession and proper land documents that he/she can sell the land for up to Rs800,000 per acre or 100,000 per kanal.

If this rate is taken, then the worth of the land, Dr Uzma Khan acquired in 2021, will be worth over Rs500 million today.

Geo Fact Check also spoke to a local revenue official, who estimated the deputy commissioner rate of land in the area to be around Rs190,000 to Rs290,000 per acre, depending on the nature of the land.

Geo Fact Check then contacted Zia ul Haq, the regional director at the Anti-Corruption Establishment in Dera Ghazi Khan, to ask why a charge of Rs6 billion was made against Uzma Khan when the market price of the land ranged from between Rs130 million to Rs500 million.

“Maybe your information [about the exact value of the land] is correct,” he said over the phone, “But this case isn’t just about the price of the land, but also about fraud, forgery and embezzlement.”

Haq did not elaborate on how the alleged charges of fraud and forgery amounted to Rs6 billion.

Geo Fact Check then contacted another official of the Anti-Corruption Establishment in Layyah. Sarfraz Khan, the circle officer, could also not confirm how the value of the land was determined to be Rs6 billion. “This was the information provided to us. This case is still under investigation,” he said, over the phone.

Geo Fact Check will not comment on the allegations that the land was purchased fraudulently, as that is the subject of an ongoing investigation by anti-corruption agencies.

With additional reporting by Fayyaz Hussain.

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