QUETTA: Balochistan has set new records in corruption, with former Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch declaring it the most corrupt province in Pakistan.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has launched a large-scale investigation, and a major reshuffle in the provincial cabinet appears imminent.
According to the inquiry, the primary methods of fraud included tampering with revenue records, fake allotments, backdated mutations, and transfers through frontmen — essentially, valuable government land was “vanished” through paperwork manipulation.
Investigators revealed that the scam involves billions of rupees and could extend to “senior officials and politicians.”
The scandal’s hotspots include Quetta and the coastal industrial belt of Hub. In total, 11,000 acres of government land were illegally allotted or occupied.
NAB described the case as far beyond petty embezzlement, calling it a direct attack on provincial governance, investment, and citizens’ rights.
The bureau confirmed it has approached the court to freeze fake transfers — a step usually seen only in major cases.
Experts stress that eliminating corruption in Balochistan requires practical and transparent policy measures, particularly through forensic, digital, and open-data-based systems.
The proposal includes establishing Land and Revenue Forensics Cells in Quetta and Hub, capable of bulk mutation screening, GIS overlays, and chain-of-custody logs to automatically flag suspicious allotments or transfers.
A public allotment registry should be launched, providing unique IDs for each allotment or transfer, beneficiary maps, and quarterly audit reports on an open dashboard.
To combat academic corruption, an “Exams Integrity Framework” should be enforced in BBISE, featuring tamper-proof digital credentials, secure chain-of-custody systems, and third-party proctoring to eliminate fake qualifications.
For transparency in development projects — particularly in Panjgur and the Makran zone — all schemes worth over 500 million rupees along the N-85 and M-8 corridors should undergo mandatory forensic review before payments, which should be released only after milestone verification.
Lastly, NAB and ACEB should implement a case-tracking dashboard, publicly providing redacted updates from inquiry to reference and plea bargain stages, to restore public trust and minimize delays.
From Sariab Road in Quetta to Hub River Road, and from local revenue offices to the coastal industrial estates of Hub, the story of corruption has long been written on paper.
The operations of 2025 have, for the first time, brought this paper under forensic scrutiny.
NAB’s legal action and ACEB’s FIU-style measures signal that the game is changing.
The question is no longer “how much land has been lost,” but “how much can be recovered — and who will pay the price?” If these cases reach their conclusion, Balochistan could see restored confidence in land, education, and development sectors alike.
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If not, today’s 11,000-acre scandal will turn from a “headline” into a “new normal.” The state has no option but to break this cycle.
