ISLAMABAD: In a strange twist of events, Amin Gulgee, son of artist Ismail Gulgee, was recently intimated by the civic body of the capital city that a man claiming to be related to Gulgee had claimed possession of his father’s property, Dawn has learnt.

Ismail Gulgee along with his wife Zareen and a maid was allegedly murdered by two domestic servants at his Clifton residence in Karachi in December 2007, and was known to be survived by son and sculptor Amin and daughter Zarmeen.

It was nothing short of shocking when the Gulgee family in Karachi was informed by director Estate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Waqar Ali Khan that he is in the possession of claim documents submitted by an as yet anonymous man purporting himself to be the son of the late artist.

Khan told Dawn that soon after receiving the second claim for possession of property, he had contacted Amin Gulgee and invited him to his office in order to resolve the matter as per the rules. Later, Khan said, Amin Gulgee came to his office with a lawyer and claimed that he was the only son of Ismail Gulgee and that he had no brother.

The director estate quoted Amin Gulgee as saying: “When my parents were murdered all the documents related to his property were also taken away by the murderers…I have no knowledge how much or where is the property owned by my father (Ismail Gulgee).”

Regarding the property claim issue, the director estate maintained: “Since I have met both the individuals (Amin Gulgee and the claimant son), the issue is not related to me anymore because if there is a property dispute it will be settled by the court.”

“We have our own rules for transfer and other property claims and bypassing a lengthy transfer and property ownership mechanism is not easy for anyone,” claimed Khan.

Asked whether he had checked the record of the claimant with his directorate, he said: “The claimant son, whom I don’t know, also had original documents of the National Database and Registration Authority.”

Meanwhile, Khan said he had warned Amin Gulgee that he may lose his property to land-grabbers if he failed to take possession of his property. “Land grabbers are always very much active in the city and specifically for such properties having no claimants,” said the official.

According to the director, the slain artist owned many properties within the capital city: “There is the 20-kanal farm located in Chak Shehzad, and if the buzz from property managers and individuals who visit the estate directorate is to be relied on,then there are also two or three prime residential properties in Islamabad and a farm in Nathia Gali, Murree.”

When Dawn approached Amin Gulgee, his lawyer, Arshad Tayebaly said: “Amin Gulgee and Zarmeen Gulgee are the only two legal heirs of late Ismail Gulgee. The late Ismail Gulgee never married for a second time.”

As for the legal possession status, he had this to say: “When the tragedy happened, only a few property documents went missing.  No property was under any illegal occupation except the prime property in Nathiagali.” He said he had approached officials at the civic agency along with Amin Gulgee but nobody turned up for the claim over his 20-kanal farmhouse plot.—Imran Ali Teepu