An accountability court in Karachi has issued lifetime, non-bailable arrest warrants against property tycoon Malik Riaz, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, and several other accused in the high-profile Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) land grab case.
The order was issued by Accountability Court Judge Syed Nadeem Hussain Shah on Thursday. The court had already declared all the accused as proclaimed offenders on April 23, 2026. Along with the arrest warrants, the court ordered the blocking of their passports and directed authorities to produce them before the court.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed the reference in 2025. NAB alleges that around 17,000 acres of valuable government land in Karachi were illegally transferred, adjusted, exchanged, and consolidated to Bahria Town in 2013-14.
The anti-graft body claims this massive land grab caused a loss of over Rs 708 billion to the national exchequer. The case involves accusations of corruption, abuse of power, and illegal favouritism that helped develop Bahria Town Karachi housing project.
Malik Riaz, founder and chairman of Bahria Town, and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz (also known as Ali Riaz), who serves as CEO, are currently out of the country. NAB has already secured Interpol Red Notices against them to facilitate possible extradition from the UAE, though no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.
As NAB intensifies its crackdown on high-profile land scams, the court has issued lifetime arrest warrants against the accused, making their return to Pakistan almost impossible without immediate arrest. The case will now proceed with the accused declared as absconders.
