Over 30 acres grabbed land recovered in Balkh

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Thirty-one acre of land has been re-taken from its illegal grabbers in the Dehdadi district of northern Balkh province, an official said on Tuesday.

Governor Mohammad FarhadAzeemi said the provincial government was compelled to retake all grabbed lands in line with presidential orders.

According to Azeem, any individual or group if resisted the local government operation against land grabbers, they would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

“Today we recovered 31 acres of land from grabbers. I want to send a message to land grabbers to either free the lands or prepare for the operation,” he warned.

Governor Azeemi acknowledged that some government officials had joined hands with local influential persons in encroaching on government land. He did not name anyone, but added the court would decide their fate.

Balkh Land Department Director Azeemullah said they had recovered thousands of acres grabbed land in the past years. He added the process to free more lands from grabbers was underway.

Balkh Police Chief Syed Meraj said police arrested 30 people in Balkh in connection with land grabbing.

He said the detainees had been referred to the Attorney General Office and they were being investigated.

Nh/ma