Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa govt. to take over Bin Laden's Abbottabad plot

Islamabad -  The Abbottabad compound, where Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived until his killing on May 2, 2011, will be taken over by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, if the land  goes unclaimed within the next 15 days.

According to sources at the revenue department, the legal requirements for taking possession of the plot is already under process, reports The Express Tribune.

The house where Bin Laden lived was razed to the ground by civil authorities after a raid by U.S. Navy Seals last year.

According to sources at the office of the district officer revenue (DOR), they have received instructions from the revenue office of Peshawar, saying that the 38,000 square meters of land  should be taken over and its utility would be decided later.

One of the legal requirements includes publishing a notice for the general public asking the owner, if any, to submit identity proof to the revenue department within 15 days claiming the plot. 

In case no one claims the ownership right to the plot, the provincial government would eventually take over the property.

According to the revenue record, the property rights of this land were transferred in the name of Arshad, son of Naqab Khan, a resident of Charsada, during 2003.

Arshad and his brother Tariq, reportedly two couriers, were killed in the U.S. raid and since their identity and address of their native village are still unknown, nobody has so far claimed the  property rights.