Srinagar, Aug 12: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has busted another land scam in Jammu and Kashmir.
A Custodian land in Asarwan, Mishriwala, and Bhalwal area of Jammu district was usurped by the land mafia in connivance with Form Alf Holders and the officers/officials of the Custodian/ Revenue department.
In a statement, the ACB said that inputs were received that the Custodian land in thousands of kanals situated at Asarwan, Mishriwala, and Bhalwal, Jammu, has been fraudulently grabbed by the land grabbers/gangsters in connivance with the Revenue and police officers/officials.
The revenue records have been tempered, and land has been sold to various persons, the statement added.
Based on the inputs received by ACB, a verification was initiated, and it was found that more than 600 kanals of Custodian land were shown allotted to the displaced persons through fraudulent means by the officers/officials of the Revenue Department in connivance with the land grabbers/ Form Alaf holders. Accordingly, 16 case FIRs have already been registered by the ACB in which the investigation is in progress.
Now again, during verification it has been found that displaced persons from POJK were already allotted land in their favour but even then kith and kin of these families although not entitled as already allotted land being Form Alaf holders, in connivance with the concerned Patwaries/ Girdawars/ Naib Tehsildars/ Tehsildars of Revenue Department got mutations of additional land at Bhalwal area of District Jammu attested in their favour either without any Govt./ PRO order or on fake Govt./ PRO order.
“During verification, it has also been found that no such orders of allotment of land were issued by the office of the PRO. These persons, after getting mutation of lands in their favour, alienated the said land directly or through their attorney holders/ conduits to various persons by resorting to fraudulent means, thereby causing a huge loss to the government exchequer,” reads the statement.
Owing to the establishment of, prima facie, nexus of the criminal elements/ land grabbers/ Form Alaf holders and the Revenue officers/officials in alienation of about 150 kanals of Custodian land through fraudulent means, ACB has now registered another 08 formal case FIRs in P/S ACB Central J&K for in-depth investigation under the provisions of J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and fraud.