LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday dismissed a petition against the arrest of notorious land grabber Mansha Ali Bamm.

Amir Mansha, son of the accused, filed the petition seeking release of his father from alleged illegal custody of the police.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that Bamm was picked up on Sept 13 by the police from his Valencia Town house.

He said the alleged detainee was not required in any criminal case and civil cases of his family were pending against the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) but the Capital Police Officer, Lahore, started an anti-encroachment operation aiming at withdrawal of these cases on the instructions of the caretaker chief minister of Punjab.

The counsel said the detainee was a 70-year-old person and will be either done to death or be involved in false and planted criminal cases.

The CCPO submitted a report before the court according to which the detainee was arrested in FIR No. 5993/2023, registered on Sept 14 under section 392 PPC with Nawab Town police station.

The report said Bamm had been sent to judicial lockup for identification parade by a judicial magistrate.

A law officer argued that the detainee was a notorious criminal having antecedents of “qabza mafia”, indulged in many criminal cases. He said the suspect may be identified in the identification parade to be conducted in the jail, therefore, the petition should be dismissed.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi declared the arrest of Mansha Bamm legal for being a nominated suspect of an FIR. The judge dismissed the petition and observed that the investigation cannot be stifled at this stage.

The other day, joint teams of the police and the LDA retrieved 75 kanals of commercial land worth billions on the PIA Road near Hakim Chowk connecting D-Block, Johar Town, from the possession of Mansha Bamm.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2023