Hundreds of affectees of Theme Park Housing Society staged a protest at Lahore Press Club on Monday against alleged fraud by the society owner.
Haji Khushi Muhammad, the owner of the society, has been accused of looting billions of rupees during the last five years while depriving low-income owners of their properties. Theme Park is an underdeveloped illegal housing society near Chung area of Lahore at Ravi River Bank.
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A group of around over 200 affectees, including men, women and children, protested outside Lahore Press Club demanding justice. They said that they had lodged scores of applications to police, NAB and other departments but had not been provided justice.
The angry protestors were chanting slogans against the police, NAB and the owner of the society. They alleged that over 1,500 people had purchased plots of different sizes in Theme Park but the owner fraudulently sold them again to other people. They alleged that the owner himself was involved in land grabbing in the area as he acquired over 7,000 kanals by using his influence.
“I purchased three plots at the cost of Rs200,000 per marla on a five-year plan and was given possession with down payment. I was regularly paying the monthly installment and when after one year I completed construction at my three marla plot, the owner sold it to some other party while demolishing my house,” alleged one Shahbaz Faruqi. He said that when he contacted Haji Khushi about this, he told him to shift to another plot of five marlas. “Despite the lapse of three years I have not been allotted a single marla against my property,” he added.
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A widow, Nasreen Bibi, 50, said that she was also given possession after down payment of Rs50,000 but after a few months she got to know that some lawyer had constructed a building on her plot. “I approached the lawyer, who showed me the purchase documents of the same plot,” she said and claimed that she then reached the Chung Police Station but nobody listened to her.
Nasreen added that with the help of some relatives she wrote an application to NAB Deputy Commissioner, Lahore and also went to LDA offices but did not find relief. “I have paid Rs100,000 in installments and the owner kept on promising that a new plot will be allotted to me,” she said. Among the protestors were a number of those affectees who sold their land for the project.
Saleem, one such person, told Minute Mirror that he sold his three acres of land to Haji Khushi for two million rupees per acre. “We made a commitment that Khushi will pay me in monthly installments while a one kanal plot will also be given to me after the completion of development within five years,” he said, adding that in four years, he received only two installments while there was no sign of development in the society.
“Time and again, I approached the police against this fraud by Khushi but nobody was ready to listen to me because they supported him as he was their colleague,” Saleem claimed. It is pertinent to mention that the owner of the society, Haji Khushi Muhammad, is a police constable and was recruited in the force as a wrestler on sports quota.
About the author
Samiullah Randhawa is a correspondent covering environment, climate change, food, water and ecology. He is an International Center For Journalists alumnus and a fellow at Kettering Foundation Ohio, USA. He has won two Agahi Awards for reporting on climate change and water crisis. He tweets @sami_randhawa and can be reached at [email protected]
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