NAB Recovers Railways Land Worth Rs91bn in Islamabad
NAB recovers railways land worth more than Rs90 billion in Islamabad, the bureau said on Thursday, in one of the largest single land recoveries in the federal capital.
NAB’s Islamabad/Rawalpindi region said in a press release on Thursday that a special task force recovered 1,395 kanals and three marlas of land, with an estimated value of Rs91.234 billion, and handed it over to Pakistan Railways.
The recovered land lies in the revenue estates of Islamabad, including Bhulkar, Phulak, Lok and Loi Bher.
NAB recovers railways land through a special task force
NAB said it had set up a special task force to safeguard and retrieve land belonging to Pakistan Railways. The bureau said the recovery followed coordinated and sustained efforts by the task force.
“NAB Chairman retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed and Director General Islamabad/Rawalpindi Mohammad Rizwan Khan have continued to emphasise the protection of government assets and the recovery of national wealth,” the bureau said.
“NAB remains committed to pursuing its efforts for the protection of national assets and the recovery of public resources in the larger national interest,” a NAB spokesman said.
Builder arrested in Rs2.8bn fraud case
NAB also arrested real estate builder Mubasher Hayat on charges of cheating the public through several ventures, including EarthLink Developments.
The suspect was produced before an accountability court, which granted his physical remand to NAB for further investigation.
According to NAB, the investigation found that Hayat induced people to invest in projects in Islamabad and Rawalpindi by offering shops, hotel suites and apartments, along with promised discounts and rental returns.
The projects included The Grande Paradise, The Grande Hotel, The Leaf, The Piano and EarthLink Towers. During 2020 to 2025, substantial amounts were allegedly collected from the public for investment in these ventures.
NAB Rawalpindi received more than 270 claims from affected people, involving about Rs2.8 billion. The claimants are being called to record statements and verify their claims. The suspect has been placed on the Passport Control List, and his properties in different parts of the country have been frozen.
Part of a much larger recovery drive
The Islamabad recovery is a small part of a far bigger drive. In October, NAB said it had recovered 235,622 kanals of Pakistan Railways land, valued at Rs6.78 trillion, and claimed total recoveries of Rs9.17 trillion between January and September 2026. The bureau’s chairman said auctioning the recovered railway land could raise more than Rs10 trillion, enough to fund the long-delayed Main Line-1 (ML-I) rail project without foreign loans.
That claim put the railway land at the centre of the government’s infrastructure plans. The first phase of ML-I is budgeted at $2.1 billion, and Rawalpindi’s railways land has already been the subject of court notices over demolition.
NAB has pursued other fraud cases in the same period. The Sindh High Court recently took up an investment fraud case involving NAB, and a land auction in Attock drew NAB’s attention last week.
Further investigation is under way to trace the alleged misappropriated funds in the EarthLink case, identify others involved and determine their roles.
Dawn reported the recovery on Thursday. The Express Tribune reported in October that NAB claimed Rs9.17 trillion in recoveries over nine months.
Frequently asked questions
How much land did NAB recover in Islamabad?
NAB recovered 1,395 kanals and three marlas of Pakistan Railways land in the revenue estates of Bhulkar, Phulak, Lok and Loi Bher, and handed it over to Pakistan Railways.
What is the land worth?
NAB put the estimated value of the recovered land at Rs91.234 billion.
Who is Mubasher Hayat?
Mubasher Hayat is a real estate builder arrested by NAB on charges of cheating the public through ventures including EarthLink Developments. He was remanded to NAB custody by an accountability court.
How much money did investors claim to lose?
NAB Rawalpindi received more than 270 claims from affected people, involving about Rs2.8 billion invested in projects between 2020 and 2025.
