Arrests in connection with NPF land scam: supporters attack police station, take away PML-N MNA

Supporters of Anjum Aqeel, PML-N MNA on Friday attacked the police station and forcibly took away the lawmaker who was arrested by police in connection with multi-billion National Police Foundation (NPF) land scam. Supporters of Anjum Aqeel resorted to indiscriminate firing at Shalimar Police station and took away the lawmaker, a police spokesman said, adding that they fired upon the police station, ransacked it and took away the MNA.
He said the supporters also attacked police officials. Eight attackers have been arrested by police. Interior Minister Rehman Malik taking serious note of the incident, ordered immediate arrest of SHO Shalimar and SP Saddar Circle for negligence. Malik ordered judicial inquiry into the incident and a team headed by Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Aamir Ahmed Ali has been constituted to probe into the matter and submit report to the interior minister.
Malik directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Bani Amin Khan to register separate FIRs against the people who attacked the police station and ensure early arrest of all the culprits. Earlier, Islamabad Police on Friday arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker Anjum Aqeel Khan in Rs 6 billion National Police Foundation land scam.
Anjum Aqeel was wanted by Shalimar Police in a case No 115 in which section 409 was invoked for committing fraud of Rs 6 billion in NPF plot scandal. Shalimar Police raided the residence of the MNA and took him into custody. A First Information Report (FIR) under case No 115 was registered at Shalimar Police Station on July 4 against Anjum, two former inspector generals of police (IGPs), Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed and Mian Amin, two former DIGs, Abdul Hannan and Nafees Ahmed and Khuda Bakhsh, former Deputy Director Housing of NPF, a police spokesman said.
The FIR was registered on the directives of the Supreme Court following suo motu action taken by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on June 21. The apex court had ordered the NPF Managing Director to initiate action against the culprits. Anjum's company, Land Linkers, was chosen to procure land for the housing scheme in Sector E-11 for police personnel.
The NPF officials and high-ups extended undue favours to PML-N law-maker in the process of procuring land and instead of allotting plots among other police personnel they arbitrarily and illegally got 10 to 15 plots allotted in their own names. Former managing director and other officials of the NPF were involved in irregularities in the procurement of land.
It is also learnt that one of the accused named in the FIR has transferred 608-kanal land to Capital Development Authority (CDA), but the exact land transferred was 563 kanal. The land procured through Land Linkers was neither finally quantified by the previous NPF administration till last year nor was any effort made to resolve the issue of shortage of land/rendition of accounts with the company.
Another central accused of Rs 6 billion NPF scam and former Director General of FIA, Chaudhry Iftikhar has managed to flee the country. The FIA sources revealed that Chaudhry Iftikhar is in London. Chaudhry Iftikhar, the former DG FIA was Managing Director of the NPF at the time when the land scam surfaced.