3 FIRs registered, revenue officials among others booked
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 24: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has unearthed another major land scam involving Custodian land in Jammu district and registered 3 fresh FIRs against revenue officials, land grabbers, conduits and beneficiaries.
Officials said the scam relates to illegal occupation and sale of Custodian land in Asarwan, Mishriwala, Bhalwal and RS Pura areas through fake allotment orders and tampered revenue records.
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They said ACB had earlier received inputs that thousands of kanals of Custodian land were fraudulently grabbed in connivance with officials of the Revenue and Custodian departments.
During verification, they said, it was found that over 1,000 kanals of land had been shown allotted to displaced persons on the basis of fake orders, though they were not entitled to additional land.
Following the findings, 24 FIRs were registered by the ACB in which the investigation is in progress, officials said.
During further inquiry, they said ACB found that some Pakistan and PoJK refugee families had already been allotted land, but their relatives later managed mutations of additional land in R.S. Pura and Domana areas without any genuine Government or Provisional Rehabilitation Office orders.
“In many cases, no such allotment orders were ever issued. The land was later sold directly or through attorney holders to various persons, causing huge loss to the Government exchequer,” officials said.
They said a latest verification has now revealed illegal transfer of about 20 kanals and 9 marlas of Custodian land.
Accordingly, 3 more FIRs have been registered at Police Station ACB Central J&K under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, cheating, forgery, fraud and criminal conspiracy, officials said.
Among those named in the FIRs are then Patwari Waryam Singh of Village Kotli Bhagwan Singh (Kuttu Chak), Tehsil RS Pura, District Jammu; then Naib Tehsildar Balak Ram of Village Tootray, Tehsil RS Pura, District Jammu; Mohan Singh of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, then Patwari Prem Singh of Baggan, Tehsil Billawar, District Kathua; Bharat Bhushan Mehra of Mamka, RS Pura, Jammu; then Patwari Rahul Kai of House number 39, New Company Bagh Canal Road, Jammu; then Tehsildar Saqib Saleem of 54 Majheer Thana Mandi, Rajouri; and Sat Pal of Gadigarh, Jammu along with other individuals.
ACB said in-depth investigation has been taken up to identify the full conspiracy and trace all beneficiaries involved in the fraud.
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