Srinagar, May 24: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Friday registered two FIRs against an official of the Revenue Department for carrying out illegal mutation of 16 kanal land and for accumulating disproportionate assets.
A spokesman of ACB in a statement issued here said that it conducted verification into the allegations of accumulation of disproportionate assets through corrupt practices by Patwari Halqa Matipora, Pattan, Abdul Majid Sheikh alias Malla of Wahigund Kunzer, Baramulla, who is now posted as Girdawar Qanoongo Circle Nowshera, tehsil Boniyar.
It said that the Verification revealed that the Revenue Department official had various disproportionate assets in the shape of immovable and movable properties acquired by him in his name as well as in the name of his family members.
Some of these properties and plots purchased by the suspect Sheikh during check period includes land measuring 5 kanal and 13 marla situated at Wahigund, Kunzer under Survey No 4; land measuring 3 marlas at Wahighund, Kunzer under Survey No 216/73; land measuring 10.05 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer under Survey No 215/73; land measuring 13 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer under Survey No 91; land measuring 1 kanal at Wahigund, Kunzer in the name of suspect’s wife; land measuring 4 kanal and 4 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer; land measuring 1 kanal and 10 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer in the name of suspect’s son Ishfaq Majid; land measuring 13 marlas with single storey structure and two shops at Pattan, Baramulla in the name of suspect’s wife and land measuring 3 marlas at Pattan.
The verification conducted revealed that he had also constructed a double-storey house having a plinth area of 600 sq ft at Wahigund, Kunzer on ancestral land and also had huge doubtful transactions in his various bank accounts, besides having other properties and assets.
It said that the value of assets so accumulated as well as expenditure incurred by the suspect public servant were found disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he failed to satisfactorily give account.
The ACB statement said that accordingly, on the culmination of the probe a Case FIR No 07/2024 under Section 5(1) (e) read with 5 (2) of J&K P C Act Svt, 2006, was registered at Police Station ACB Baramulla against Sheikh and an investigation was started.
It said that immediately after registration of the case, searches were also conducted at the residence of the accused during which Rs 3.80 lakh besides other incriminating documents were recovered.
During the verification, it surfaced that the suspect had purchased immovable property in the shape of proprietary land of more than 16 kanal from many persons falling under different survey numbers at Wahigund, Kunzer from time to time and these properties had been fraudulently mutated by two oral gift deeds to evade applicable stamp duty and registration fee.
The statement said that it was found that the accused Girdawar in league with revenue officers and officials identified as Bashir Ahmad Reshi of Kanloo, then Patwari Halqa Wailoo, Kralpor; Manzoor Ahmad Khanday of Ultkoo, Kawarhuma, Tangmarg, then Patwari Halqa Wailoo, Kralpora and Altaf Hussain Khan of House No 112-A Balgarden, Srinagar, then Naib Tehsildar Wailoo, Kralpora had illegally and fraudulently entered two different oral gift mutations vide No 117 dated Nil and No 123 dated January 15, 2015, in mutation register of the revenue record of Patwari Halqa, Wailoo Kralpora, Kunzer in utter violation of laid down norms in vogue.
The verification conducted revealed that these officers and officials in league with the suspect beneficiary had made illegal insertions in the revenue record by changing actual Mutation No 117 into 117/1, and then Mutation No 117 was fraudulently given to questioned oral gift mutation in the register by incorporating additional page into original mutation register, thereby land measuring 5 kanal and 7 marlas was shown orally gifted to suspect, his wife as well as his son which was purchased by Sheikh against substantial consideration amounts.
It has also been found that similarly, another oral gift Mutation No 123 was illegally and fraudulently inserted in the Parti-Patwar register by the revenue officers and officials by showing land measuring 14 kanal and 5 marlas orally gifted to the suspect and to his brother which too was purchased by suspect Sheikh against substantial consideration amount.
The ACB statement said that in both cases, the involved revenue officers and officials had ample knowledge that the land properties had not been orally gifted to the suspect beneficiary or any one of his family members but had been purchased for consideration.
“As such, the entry in this regard in the revenue record by unduly showing them as orally gifted was illegal, fraudulent, and in contravention to the laid down norms,” the statement said.
It said that the verification conducted revealed that these revenue officers and officials, by abuse of their official positions and under a well-knit criminal conspiracy with the suspect beneficiary Sheikh had paved the way to evade the applicable stamp duty as well as registration charges and conferred huge undue pecuniary gains upon themselves as well as to beneficiary with commensurate loss to the government exchequer.
The ACB statement said that accordingly, a separate FIR No 08 under Section 5(1) (d) read with 5(2) of the J&K PC Act Svt, 2006, and sections 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) was registered at ACB Police Station Baramulla and investigations were started against all three Revenue officials including the beneficiary accused Sheikh.