Officials and residents of central Bamyan province allege an influential man, Haji Ayan, has grabbed hundreds of acres of state-owned land along with other local strongmen.
Eng. Khadim Hussain Fitrat, the mayor of Bamyan City, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday that Ayan and his associates had started selling plots of the land.
Residents confirmed Ayan had grabbed vast tracts of government land and planned to develop a township on it.
Fitrat said a joint commission of municipality, urban development, agriculture and police departments had decided to vacate the land. The commission has asked people to stay away from dealing with Ayan or buying his land.
However, police chief Brig. Gen. Khudayar Qudsi said construction work on the state land had been stopped following the direction of the commission.
According to residents, Ayan and his men had earned millions of afghanis by selling 600 residential plots. A man wishing not to be named said: “I paid 150,000 in advance to buy 20 plots.”
But Ayan vehemently rejected the government claim and said that the land was his family property and he had every right to develop a township on it.