Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 17: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch Kashmir today booked a Tehsildar, a Patwari and several others in connection with a major land fraud involving corruption, cheating, tampering with official records, and illegal transfer of land ownership.
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Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, SSP Crime Branch Kashmir Abdul Waheed Shah said the case was initiated following a written complaint by a woman who alleged that she had purchased 5 kanals and 4 marlas of land at Balhama on outskirts of Srinagar from a private seller at Rs 17 lakh per kanal, totaling Rs 88.4 lakh. “In addition, she had given the seller two kanals of land at Gooripora, Rawalpora, in exchange. That land was later sold off by the accused,” he said.
According to him, the complainant had executed three sale deeds, but the accused later took them back on the pretext of updating revenue records. When the documents were returned, it was found that vital Khasra numbers had been tampered with.
“For example, survey numbers 314 and 315 were replaced with 290. Other numbers, including 325, 316, 312, and 324 min, were also altered-resulting in complete misrepresentation of the land’s location and ownership,” Shah said.
The matter worsened when another individual forcibly occupied 2 kanals and 10 marlas of the land, claiming to have bought it from a third party. “Investigation revealed that this person had been fraudulently shown as the legal owner through manipulated records,” he added.
Verification by EOW Srinagar found that the sale deed alterations and tampering with revenue records had been carried out in collusion with Revenue Department officials. “The then Tehsildar of Balhama and the concerned Patwari inserted false mutations and wrong survey numbers into official records, facilitating the illegal sale of land that did not belong to the seller,” Shah said.
He confirmed that a network of individuals, including Government officials and private persons, was working in an organized manner to carry out the fraud. “Searches were conducted at seven locations in Srinagar and Budgam after obtaining warrants from a competent court. The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Shah also revealed that the same Tehsildar is already under investigation in a similar case-FIR No. 08/2021-under Sections of the RPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. That case is nearing completion, with the accused linked to multiple instances of land fraud across the region.
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