QUETTA: Balochistan Minister for Revenue and Transport Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel has said that a compressive strategy is being formulated for taking action against land mafia across the province.

Presiding over a meeting on Thursday, he said: `Through strict and effective action we want the province to get rid of elements who are involved in illegal acquisition of government and private lands.

The meeting, attended among others by the senior member of the Board of Revenue, noted with concern that some officials of the revenue department were also involvedin land grabbing.

The minister directed the officials concerned to immediately evolve a comprehensive strategy to retrieve all government and private land grabbed by the mafia in Quetta and other parts of the province.

`Property of poor and helpless people should be cleared from the land mafia and returned to their real owners,` said Mr Mandokhel and expressed concern over the increasing influence of land grabbers.

He said that settlement of lands was a serious issue being faced by the government in Quetta and other towns and cities of Balochistan. Due to absence of the land settlement process, the land mafia was occupying private and government lands, he added.