The National Accountability Bureau has recovered land worth Rs21 billion from an approver in the fake accounts case.

An accountability court in Islamabad approved the request of Ehsan Ellahi to become an approver. He had filed the request in 2020.

He submitted his statement in the court of Judge Muhammad Bashir on Tuesday and admitted to illegally possessing 262 acres of agricultural land in Malir’s Bin Qasim.

According to NAB, 562 acres of land was exchanged illegally with land in Scheme 33’s Sector 24-A in 2012. “This was done in clear violation of Section 10(4) of Colonization of Government Land Act, 1912”. The said section defines a tenant as the one who is in possession of the land.

Mohammad Yousuf Eidi and Ghulam Hussain Halari had applied for an exchange of land claiming that their land had been encroached. “In exchange, 562 acres of prime land of Pakistan Steel Mills and the Government of Sindh was illegally transferred by a supervisory committee.”

The committee comprised late BOR member Shahzer Shamoon, Ghulam Mustafa Phul, and former Malir DC Qazi Jaan Mohammad. They allowed “illegal exchange of state land for non-agriculture purpose”.

Eidi and Halari then transferred 262 acres of land “through registered lease deed” to Ehsan Ellahi. They returned 300 acres to the government in 2019.

Ellahi gave the following division of the 262 acres of land in Deh Joreji transferred to him.

Fixty-eight acres were transferred to Al-Aqsa Builders and Developers and this land was sold to Amanullah Memon for Rs60 million. From the sum, money was given to Manzoor Qadir Kaka, the former director general of the Sindh Building Control Authority, as a “kickback” to get NOC for sale and advertisement from the authority for two projects: Gulistan-e-Hadeed and Malir Industrial Terminal. Sixty-five acres were transferred to the Rising Karachi Builders and Developers. One hundred and thirty-nine acres were transferred to Gandhara Enterprises.