After the board chairman terminated the building’s registration, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) on Thursday sealed Lal Haveli, the political office and public secretariat of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

The Lal Haveli is a historic structure in Bohar Bazaar. Dhan Raj Sehgal constructed the Haveli more than a century ago for Budhan Bai, a Muslim ‘dancing girl’ from Sialkot. However, in 1980, once Sheikh Rashid Ahmed entered legislative politics, it was transformed into a political center.

Lal Haveli was shut by a team from the ETPB led by Deputy Administrator Asif Khan and assisted by the FIA, police, and local administration. Asif Khan revealed to Dawn that Sheikh Rashid Ahmed only held a five-marla part of the upper floor of the Lal Haveli, which had a total size of more than 16 marla. He said that the chairman of the ETPB made the decision to designate the entire property, formerly known as “Saray Sehgalan,” as trust property.

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“The order was issued in response to a reference filed by the department for the declaration of D-156, D-157, and D-158 as evacuee trust properties [under the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Act, 1975],”

The dispute over the ownership of the property first came to light last year when the ETPB alleged that the ownership records for one of the seven flats at Lal Haveli were “fake.” He claimed that Sheikh Rashid only held five marla in the upper half of Lal Haveli, which had a total area of more than 16 marla. He claimed that although Sheikh Rashid Ahmed utilised this land as part of his Lal Haveli, seven units next to it were leased out to seven other tenants.

He questioned how it could be that Mr. Rashid possessed the first floor while the ground floor was listed as an evacuee trust property. According to the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Act of 1975, the entire structure is ETPB property.

The dispute over the ownership of the property first came to light last year when the ETPB alleged that the ownership records for one of the seven flats at Lal Haveli were “fake.” He claimed that Sheikh Rashid only held five marla in the upper half of Lal Haveli, which had a total area of more than 16 marla. He claimed that although Sheikh Rashid Ahmed utilised this land as part of his Lal Haveli, seven units next to it were leased out to seven other tenants.

He questioned how it could be that Mr. Rashid possessed the first floor while the ground floor was listed as an evacuee trust property. According to the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Act of 1975, the entire structure is ETPB property.