LAHORE: Lahore Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) claimed to have arrested an alleged owner of a private housing society, a dismissed police constable, who developed the scheme in the bed of the river Ravi by `grabbing lands of dozens of locals by hook or by crook`.

The ACE acted on the complaints of the affectees who were offered `imaginative and distinguished residential enclave in the thriving city scape of Lahore` but got nothing on ground despite paying hefty amounts to the housing society owner.

The ACE officials expanded the scope of investigation soon after they received multiple complaints from buyers, many of them belonging to the lower-middle class, who purchased the plots, mostly measuring five marlas, on installments.

A senior Lahore ACE official says the scheme owner, Khushi Mohammad, isnotorious for fraudulently depriving hundreds of people of their heard-earned money by selling them plots in the society, which does not exist in the official record.

He says the suspect was a police constable and became a real estate developer after he was dismissed from service on serious charges.

He launched his business by purchasing a few dozen kanals pf land on the Multan Road near the Police Training Centre at Chung, declaring it the `first phase of the Theme Park Housing Society`, without getting approval from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).

The official says that the ex-constable was `very sharp and cunning` as he was an insider and knew how to manage local police.

Explaining the suspect`s modus operandi, the official says Khushi would purchase lands from locals against mere token money and then occupy the properties by deploying private guards there.

He says the suspect ran an elaborate network and his accomplices would immediately bring heavy machines, including cranes, on the property and develop roads and blocks by cutting five-marla residential plots the same night, keeping the original land owners in the dark.

The ofñcial says the suspect hadanother team comprising trained men to manage and prolong the disputes in the local police station.

He says the suspect has so far illegally occupied several pieces of land measuring from five to twenty kanals, by defrauding and coercing locals, expanding his housing society to 2,000 1(anals in the river Ravi`s bed so far.

`The Theme Park was neither approved by the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda), nor by the LDA`, the ACE officer said.

The ACE initiated first action on the complaint of an affectee, Umair and lodged a case, nominating Khushi Mohammad and his alleged front man Javed.

As per the FIR, he says, the suspect paid an amount of Rs100,000 in advance to Umair for his 20-kanal piece of land against a decided amount of Rs40 million, giving an assurance that he would pay the remaining amount by singing a deal the next day.

However, the suspect sent a team of his accomplices to Umair`s land the same night, which developed roads and fivemarla plots and then deployed armed guards atthe property.

On knowing about illegal occupation of his land, Umair, rushed to the local police, where Khushi Mohammad alleg-edly blackmailed him by showing him fake documents of his land, declaring it a `disputed property`.

As per the plan, Khushi began negotiations with Umair, bringing down the value of the property gradually from Rs40m to Rs20m, and then gave him the last offer of Rs8.5m.

After several visits of the police station, Umair got frustrated and finally settled for the last offer (Rs8.5m) made by the dismissed constable and asked him to pay him the money, the official says.

As his rival was exhausted, Khushi refused to pay the amount in cash and instead offered him a car, claiming its price was around Rs8.5m. On this, Umair lost his temper, refused to take the car and approached the ACE, narrating his plight to the officers concerned.

`We have arrested Khushi Mohammad after lodging an FIR on the complaint of Umair,` the ACE officer says, adding that the department has also received such complaints against the suspect from more than 25 other affectees so far.

The inquiry process was in the final stages and the dismissed constable will be booked in multiple other cases as well in the days and weeks to come, the ACE officer says.