A notice pasted outside the mall states: “The premises has been sealed on account of non-conforming use by order of director building control-city, CDA (Capital Development Authority).”
Videos circulating on social media showed barbed wires placed outside the mall, with a police mobile unit parked nearby.
In a December 2 notification, the CDA said that the orders to seal the mall were being issued on account of the failure to “remove building violations”.
‘Pathetic, vengeful, fascist’
Traders and PTI leaders on Tuesday denounced Islamabad authorities’ move to seal Centaurus Mall — a high-rise shopping centre located in the capital’s F-8 sector on the confluence of Jinnah and Faisal avenues — overnight, claiming that it was an act of “political revenge”.
The PTI linked the sealing of the mall to criticism of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by Azad Jammu and Kashmir premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas — who owns the mall — for “not mentioning the sacrifices of Kashmiri people” during a speech on Monday.
PM Shehbaz inaugurated the refurbishment project of units 5 and 6 of the Mangla Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant, built on the Jhelum river in Mangla area of AJK, on Monday where he addressed the project’s inauguration ceremony.
As he was winding up his speech, Ilyas interrupted him and asked what he had done for AJK.
In a video clip that went viral on social media, PM Shehbaz could be seen gesturing to the AJK premier to sit down and raise his concerns after the speech.
The Centaurus Mall is the property of AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.