900 Fake Property Registrations Found in Punjab

The Anti-Corruption Establishment in Punjab has discovered 900 potentially fraudulent property registrations in a single revenue district in Gujranwala, resulting in losses exceeding Rs114.86 million in taxes and duties. ACE Gujranwala Region Director Amjad Shehzad announced that revenue officials, including tehsildars and patwaris, and assistant commissioners from Gujranwala Sadar during the relevant period would be questioned.

The investigation started following complaints about irregularities in revenue records in Mouza Ladhiawala Warraich. Out of 4,987 land transactions in the past two years, 900 were identified as having potentially bogus registrations. Some documents showed stamp papers with values over Rs3,000, but online verification revealed the actual values were only Rs500.

Discrepancies were also found in property numbers, with buyer-seller names in physical documents differing from online records. The ACE is investigating officials whose signatures appear on the disputed registrations, including Tehsildars Sarfraz Cheema, Altaf Hussain Tarar, Arshad Dhullo, and Imtiaz Sahi, as well as Patwaris Bilal Butt and Mustafa Mann.

A private team is alleged to have been used for site verification, allegedly raising objections and charging additional fees. Assistant commissioners from Gujranwala Sadar from July 1, 2024, to May 4, 2026, will also be questioned. Around 1,800 buyers and sellers may be affected by the investigation.