SUKKUR, Aug 23: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has taken a serious notice of leasing out a public park and a plot housing a hospital and dispensary by the Sukkur Taluka Council.

According to sources, the chief minister has asked the Sindh Local Government Commission and the Inspection Monitoring and Evaluation Cell, Sindh, to order the taluka council to stop the deal with private parties.

The sources said Dr Rahim, in a letter to the taluka municipal officer, ordered local government authorities to cancel the lease of the plots and submit a report in the matter in seven days.

Under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001, and powers vested in the SLGC, the taluka council could not allot lands on lease to private parties, the sources said.

The taluka council had leased out the park, the oldest in the city, and the plot housing hospital, both worth Rs50 million, to during its recent. Nazims who opposed the proposal had appealed to the chief minister, additional chief secretary, local government, and the National Reconstruction Bureau to take notice of the matter and send the case to the National Accountability Bureau.

SHOT DEAD: A man, Rehmatullah Noonari, 45, was shot dead in the Abdul Ghani Shah village, Thul police station jurisdiction, on Sunday night. The reason behind the murder is said to be a dispute between two groups of the Noonari tribe.

STRIKE: Residents of Buxapur observed a shutter-down strike and staged a sit-in on Monday morning, demanding that Buxapur should be made a taluka, instead of Budani. Speaking on the occasion, the protesters said Buxapur was being ignored on political basis.

RETURNED: Two men kidnapped from Garhi Khairo a month back, returned home on Monday morning. Police claimed that hostages Arbelo and Mohammad Sadiq Odho were released after an encounter, but villagers said the bandits released the hostages after receiving a heavy ransom.