? Order affects Malik Riaz, his relatives and several former Sindh govt officials
? Assets span across DHA, other housing authorities

KARACHI: The National Accoun-tability Bureau (NAB) has ordered the freezing of over 450 immovable properties owned by various individuals named in the Bahria Town Karachi land grab case.

NAB has also restrained these individuals from creating any third-party interest in respect of the said properties and warned that, in case of any violation, the individuals responsible may face proceedings under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.

The order, passed by NAB’s Director General Sindh, Javed Akbar Riaz, states that it will remain in force for a period of up to 15 days. In the meantime, it will be placed before an accountability court for confirmation, as required by the law.

“Further, the said freezing order shall continue to subsist (even after passage of fifteen days) till the Hon’ble Accountability Court adjudicates upon the same as held by Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in its judgement reported as 2019SCMR 1106,” it adds.

An inquiry was initiated by NAB in 2015 after it received complaints regarding the alleged usurpation of government land by Bahria Town for its ‘Bahria Town Karachi’ project in Malir, near the M-9 Motorway. The inquiry was subsequently upgraded into an investigation in 2016.

In a reference filed some five months ago, the anti-graft watchdog alleged that the entire hierarchy of the executive, the revenue board, the MDA and others conspired to cede valuable public property to Bahria Town. It named 33 individuals as the accused, including Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz, senior PPP and Sindh government figures, and others.

It said the accused, acting in connivance, grabbed around 17,000 acres of public property for Bahria Town under the grab of adjustment/ exchange/ consolidation in 2013-14 in sheer violation of the law, causing a colossal loss of over Rs708.08 billion to the national exchequer.

Over the years, Dawn has played an important role in shedding light on the Bahria Town Karachi land scam through a series of detailed investigative reports. In April 2016, it had published an exposé titled “Bahria Town Karachi: Greed Unlimited”, which invited the public’s attention to the alleged collusion between Bahria Town and land authorities in Malir. The investigation had documented irregularities in land acquisition and the displacement of local communities.

This was followed by “Greed Unbound”, published in September 2019, which examined how frontmen, forged land records and administrative manoeuvring enabled the illegal consolidation of thousands of acres of public land. In March last year, Dawn ran a fresh investigation under the title “Catch Me If You Can”, detailing how Bahria Town continued to expand its footprint beyond the limits set by the Supreme Court.

Properties frozen

According to the freezing order, Waqas Riffat, a nephew of Malik Riaz and general manager sales of Bahria Town (Pvt) Limited, owns more than 400 properties in Defence Housing Authority Rawalpindi, Bahria Town and DHA Islamabad, which are now subject to the freezing order.

Similarly, a former secretary of the Land Utilisation Department, Muhammad Javed Hanif Khan, owns multiple properties in DHA City Karachi, Lyari Development Authority (LDA) and Malir Deve-lopment Authority (MDA). Similarly, multiple properties are registered in the name of former director general Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) Agha Maqsood Abbas in the LDA and MDA. Two properties each are in the names of Ahmed Ali Malik, son of Malik Riaz and chief executive officer of Bahria Town, and Zain Malik, son-in-law of Malik Riaz and former vice-chairman Bahria Town, in the federal capital. All of the aforementioned properties now stand freezed.

The order also notifies two properties in LDA and MDA owned by the former DG SBCA Manzoor Qadir, and two properties each in the names of former additional director Town Planning in MDA, Syed Nishat Ali Rizvi, and director Town Planning, Muhammad Siddique Majid, in the MDA and LDA as subject to its freezing order.

Former deputy commissioner (East) Kazi Jan Mohammad has been connected to two properties in DHA Karachi; the Utilisation Department Secretary Saqib Ahmed Soomro has one property in DHA Karachi; former MDA director general Mohammad Sohail to a property in DHA City Karachi; while former mukhtiarkar Taluka Murad Memon Malir Tufail Ahmed Khaskheli and deputy chief CEO of M/s Bahria Town to one property each in DHA City Karachi and Islamabad, respectively.

The freezing order states that all 457 properties in question have been frozen by the DG NAB Sindh in exercise of his powers under Section 12 read with Section 34A of the NAO.A submission will be made before a judge of an accountability court in Karachi for its confirmation, as required under Section 12(c) of NAO, it adds.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2025