NAB launches probe into alleged irregularities in Lyari Expressway resettlement project

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has launched a formal investigation into alleged multi-billion-rupee irregularities in the Lyari Expressway resettlement project after completing a preliminary inquiry, sources said.

According to sources in the anti-corruption watchdog, the inquiry uncovered evidence of illegal allotments, “China cutting” of plots and fake land allotment orders in the resettlement scheme, which was a joint project of the federal and Sindh governments.

The sources said that NAB teams conducted raids and seized thousands of plot files and related records during the investigation.

Around 65 per cent of the seized files were found to contain allegedly fake allotment orders bearing signatures of assistant directors of land and executive engineers, the sources added.

The NAB has also placed the names of six suspected individuals, including government officials, on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL), according to the sources.

The watchdog alleged that around 20 acres of land allocated for the project had been fraudulently sold to outsiders, while evidence of large-scale fraud against members of the public had also emerged during the probe.

The resettlement scheme was launched to rehabilitate families displaced by the construction of the Lyari Expressway in Karachi.

Under the arrangement, the federal government was to contribute 67 per cent of the project funding, while the Sindh government was responsible for the remaining 33 per cent.

Investigators have separately recommended another inquiry into alleged irregularities worth 8 billion rupees in the project, the sources said.