Ilyas Sait to be new Wakf Board chief

HYDERABAD: After about four years of legal wrangling, the State government finally on Tuesday completed the formation of new Wakf Board and gave indications that its new chairman would be Ilyas Sait, a former superintendent of police and fresh member of Congress.
According to sources, Sait, who while in service enjoyed the reputation of an upright officer, is a personal choice of chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.There are piles of charges against the functioning of the board whose political bosses allegedly sold off Wakf properties at throwaway prices to his favourite industrialists, businessmen and politicians etc. The functioning of the board seriously affected the Muslim sensibilities who had been demanding effective corrective measures. The formation of the board with Sait as its head would be the chief minister's response, the sources said. Sait hails from Hindupur in Anantpur district. He started his career in 1970 as sub-inspector of police. Owing to his investigative abilities, he mostly served with the CBI, state CID, ACB and vigilance and enforcement department. Close to the end of his service, he was security in-charge of the VVIPs visiting the chief minister. He retired in June 2006.
According to a government order, the other members who have been nominated are Maulana Ghulam Afzal alias Afzal Biyabani of Warangal, Maulana Zaheer Ali Sufi (Hyderabad), Altaf Hyder Razvi (MIM MLC) and Faiq Ahmed, a deputy secretary with the government. The elected members of the board are Maulana Ali Akbar Nizamuddin, Muhammad Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad Ali Khan, Col Nizamuddin, Shaik Subhani and Naushad Ali.
The board is expected to meet next week and elect its chairman.