The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday claimed to have retrieved 10,000 acres of state land off Superhighway near Karachi, worth Rs75 billion, where some major housing schemes were launched in connivance with the revenue officials. In a statement released by the Bureau, it was claimed that ‘an investigation against revenue authorities on allegations of fake allotments of lands at Thana Boola Khan, Jamshoro, was carried out and NAB was successful in getting thousands of acres of land cancelled by the revenue authorities’. Meanwhile, three officials were arrested on April 17 for entering bogus entries in record of rights with respect to 731 acres of land, fraudulently showing it as private land, added the official. The statement continued, “on the basis of established irrefutable evidence, NAB got more than 10,000 acres of state land, embezzled and usurped by land mafia, cancelled by the revenue authorities of District Jamshoro.” The NAB spokesperson pointed out that 731 acres of land in Deh Babbar Band Taluka Boola Khan was part of a housing scheme, whereas, the rest of the land located in Deh Hathal Buth Taluka Boola Khan was part of various other schemes located near main Superhighway. “Approximate value of the land is around Rs75 billion,” NAB official said. Furthermore, the revenue authorities have banned the issuance of sale certificates. “The Investigation is at the final stages and a reference shall be filed against the accused soon,” concluded the NAB statement. The statement did not mention the exact number of housing schemes developed on the land off Superhighway. It also did not identify the fraudulent schemes. Published in Daily Times, May 25th 2018.