900 suspected bogus property registrations uncovered

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has uncovered 900 suspected bogus property registrations in a single revenue estate in Gujranwala, allegedly causing more than Rs114.86 million in losses to the provincial exchequer in the form of taxes and duties. ACE Gujranwala Region Director Amjad Shehzad said on Monday that revenue officials, including tehsildars and patwaris who served in the area during the period under investigation, would be questioned in connection with the alleged fraud. He said assistant commissioners posted in Gujranwala Sadar during the relevant period would also be included in the inquiry. Addressing a press conference, the ACE director said the investigation was launched after complaints were received regarding alleged irregularities in revenue records in Mouza Ladhiawala Warraich. He said ACE teams had taken the relevant record into custody and conducted a detailed examination. Of the 4,987 mutations involving large and small land transactions carried out during the past two years, 900 were found to involve suspected bogus registrations, he claimed. According to Shehzad, some documents showed stamp papers with a declared value of more than Rs3,000, while online verification showed that the actual stamp papers had a value of only Rs500. He said verification of property numbers mentioned in the documents also revealed discrepancies, with the names of buyers and sellers recorded in the physical documents differing from those appearing in the online record. The suspected bogus registrations allegedly resulted in a loss of Rs114.865 million to the government in taxes and other revenue, the ACE director said. He said an inquiry was under way against revenue officials and patwaris posted in the area during the relevant period, particularly those whose signatures appeared on the disputed registrations. Shehzad named Tehsildars Sarfraz Cheema, Altaf Hussain Tarar, Arshad Dhullo and Imtiaz Sahi, as well as Patwaris Bilal Butt and Mustafa Mann, as officials being investigated in connection with the alleged fraud. He also alleged that a private team or mechanism had been used to conduct site verification. According to him, the team would record videos during visits and allegedly raise objections deliberately, after which additional fees were reportedly charged. The ACE director said assistant commissioners who served in Gujranwala Sadar from July 1, 2024 to May 4, 2026 would also be questioned to determine why the large number of mutations and the alleged shortfall in revenue collection had not been detected earlier. He said around 1,800 buyers and sellers could be affected by the investigation and would be heard by the authorities.