Islamabad :
By Ehsan Bukhari
The government treasury suffered a loss of 152 billion rupees, while 335 billion rupees were allegedly embezzled. Two references have been filed in the Rawalpindi Accountability Court against former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Malik Riaz, his son Ali Riaz, and eighteen other accused, including officials and employees of the Revenue and Forest Departments. A total of 43 officers and employees of these departments are accused of illegally acquiring thousands of kanals of state land worth 487 billion rupees.
The references, filed yesterday, include allegations of embezzlement, corruption, misuse of authority, and tampering with official records. Among the accused are the Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Tehsildar, and Patwaris, along with 37 officials and employees of the Revenue and Forest Departments.
One reference alleges that Malik Riaz, his son Ali Riaz, former Tehsil Nazim Murree Sardar Saleem, and 25 employees of the Revenue and Forest Departments embezzled 152 billion rupees. The accused allegedly colluded to transfer government land in Moza Manga and surrounding areas of Murree to Bahria Town, where the Bahria Golf City project was developed, causing significant losses to the national treasury.
The second reference, involving 335 billion rupees in embezzlement, names former Punjab CM Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Malik Riaz, his son Ali Riaz, and eighteen others, including officials of the Revenue and Forest Departments. They are accused of illegally transferring thousands of kanals of Punjab government land in Takhte Pari and surrounding areas of Rawalpindi to Bahria Town, where Bahria Town Phases 7 and 8 were developed.
After due diligence and legal proceedings, further action will be taken on these references. In a related case, the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into illegal occupation and construction on Forest Department land and common village land as part of the New Murree Project and Golf City. Following investigations, NAB Rawalpindi has now submitted these references to the Rawalpindi Accountability Court.
