ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sought a report into the alleged illegal allotment of plots worth billions of rupees by the National Police Foundation (NPF) to senior police officials and private firms.

According to a letter issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the premier has sought a comprehensive report on the matter from the interior ministry.

The letter issued to the ministry referred to a news story published in an English daily on January 1, 2025, regarding these allotments.

“It has been desired that ministry of interior shall submit a report in [sic] the matter to this office for the perusal of the prime minister at the earliest,” the letter stated.

Subsequently, the interior ministry wrote to the NPF asking for a report.

It may be mentioned that earlier, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Interior sought a briefing from the NPF on the allotments of plots to senior police officials and private firms.

The committee however surprisingly removed the briefing from its agenda a couple of days before the planned meeting.

The NPF reportedly allotted commercial and residential plots worth billions of rupees at throwaway rates.

According to sources, the foundation leased out a 20-kanal plot in Sector O-9 to a private limited company. The lease, granted for 99 years at an annual rent of just Rs1 million, allows the lessee to rent or assign portions of the property for commercial activities without sharing revenue with the NPF.

Moreover, the lessee retained the right to unilaterally terminate the agreement – a provision sources have called unusually favourable.

The NPF reportedly sold a prime 14-kanal commercial plot in Islamabad to a private firm for Rs1.08 billion.

The plot could have fetch Rs17 billion if it was disposed of through open auction, they said.

The price for Rs1.08 billion starkly contrasts with recent auctions conducted by the CDA in which two smaller plots measuring 666.66 and 800 square yards in I-8 Markaz fetched Rs1.14 billion and Rs1.46 billion, respectively.

A 533.33-square-yard plot in I-14 Markaz was auctioned for Rs653 million.

A Blue Area plot measuring 2666.66 square yards fetched Rs4.53 billion.

Sources further claimed that the NPF allotted seven residential plots in Islamabad’s upscale Sector E-11 at significantly undervalued rates.

Each one-kanal plot, worth approximately Rs100 million at current market rates, was allotted for Rs1.57 million.

Beneficiaries included Inspector General (IG) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Akhtar Hayat Khan, Inspector General (IG) of Punjab Police Dr Usman Anwar, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Bilal Siddique Kamyana, Managing Director NPF Sabir Ahmed and others.

Sources revealed that some of these officials including IG Punjab and CCPO Lahore sold the plots at current market prices, receiving high profits.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2025