Fraudsters are harassing innocent citizens in the provincial capital by impersonating the name of Lahore Development Authority, and sending them fake court notices to achieve their negative motives.
It has also been revealed that they have been misusing the name of the judges of the lower courts as well. They prepare fabricated court notices and serve them on the citizens to blackmail them for money. The fraudsters frequently visit LDA offices and “in connivance with the LDA officials” get the lists of buildings that come under discussion over different matters, and use the addresses of those buildings concerned for their malafide objectives.
Surprisingly, despite knowing about the fraud, the LDA authorities seem quite helpless against the strong mafia damaging its reputation and being involved in money minting activities. According to sources, this fraud has been going on for years and has caused damage to LDA and the judiciary.
“I was shocked when I received a notice carrying the court name as well as the stamp and signature of a civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate,” said a woman resident of Gulberg. “I initially thought that it was real and approached the LDA officials where I came to know that it was fake,” she added. She said that she went through mental agony since the day the notice was received. “I wonder how they are misusing the judiciary’s name and nobody cares,” said the woman.
Sources in LDA informed Minute Mirror that there are many such cases of fake notices, terming them a new challenge to deal with. They pointed out that dozens of citizens approached their relevant directorates after receiving such notices while there were many others who didn’t contact them fearing a stamp from the judicial magistrate. “Those who approach the LDA offices get compensation while most others are deprived of money at the hands of the mafia,” they said.
Sources revealed that LDA was dealing with all kinds of matters regarding the violations and was responsible for solving them since no judicial magistrate is appointed to enforce the building laws. “Not just common citizens but reputable organizations are also receiving the same notices in which they are summoned by the court,” they added.
When contacted, LDA Director Town Planning, Shafqat Kang informed Minute Mirror that such notices had no worth as they were not served by the authority. “Such notices have become a nuisance and are damaging the reputation of LDA and its officials,” he said and stressed that authorities should take action against this mafia as they have no link with LDA. Shafqat added that the authority has already received several complaints regarding the notices and it is making a strategy to deal with the matter.
