The case of illegally occupying 45-kanal land by the son-in-law of former chief minister Punjab Manzoor Wattoo has not yet been solved, causing dismay and concern among the business circles in Lahore. The occupied land belongs to overseas Pakistanis, who are major importers of Pakistani carpets in the USA.
A spokesman for the carpet industry, Tahir Naeem Shaikh, and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Carpet Committee Chairman, Mohsin Bandey, said, "despite adoption of the law against land grabbing, the authorities concerned have not yet taken any step to restore the land to its rightful owners."
They appealed to the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan to take note of this high profile land grabbing case by politically influential people and ensure justice to the aggrieved party.
Referring to the case, they said that Firdous Oriental Rugs, New York President Irfan Ayub and his brother Kewan Ayub had purchased 45 kanals land, located on Raiwind Road from Chaudhary Tanveer and others for Rs 15 million in August 2002.
This land previously belonged to Razia Begum and Parveen Begum, wives of Mian Manzoor Wattoo, who sold it to Chaudhary Tanveer and others for making payment to the National Accountability Bureau for the release of Wattoo.
However, Shahzad Ali Khan, son-in-law of Mian Manzoor Wattoo, later grabbed the land in view of the manifold increase in the price of the land in last couple of years, they added.
They further pointed out that the said overseas Pakistanis had already brought the matter to the notice of Pakistan Ambassador to USA General Jahangir Karamt, who promised to refer the case for justice to the higher authorities in Pakistan.
They claimed that it was a clear case of land grabbing, which would scare away overseas Pakistani investors, who would not consider their investment in Pakistan safe.
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