SRINAGAR, MAY 24: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), the highest anti-corruption body in Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday registered two FIRs against a revenue official for having accumulated disproportionate assets than his known sources of income.
Identifying the official as Girdawar Abdul Majid Sheikh alias Malla, a resident of Wahigund Kunzer, Baramulla, it said that its verification into the complaints received by it revealed that he had raised these assets by entering illegal and fraudulent mutation in revenue records.
In this context, it referred to the purchase of 16 kanals of land by him during the period he was working as a Patwari. He had also accumulated property in the names of his other family members.
Malla was now Girdawar Qanoongo, Nowshera circle in Boniyar tehsil.
The verification revealed that he had purchased various pieces of plots totally measuring 21.48 kanal in his own name, or the names of his wife and son Ishaf Majid. He had also purchased 13 marla land having a single storey structure including two shops on it at Pattan in Baramulla in the name of his wife. He had also purchased 3 marla land at another place in Pattan.
He was also found to have constructed a double-storey house having a plinth area of 600 sft at Wahigund, Kunzer on ancestral land, besides having huge doubtful transactions in his various Bank accounts, and in possession of other properties/assets.
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 fail to satisfactorily give account. Accordingly, on culmination of the probe a Case FIR No 07/2024 under section 5(1) (e) r/w 5 (2) J&K P.C Act. Svt; 2006 was registered in ACB’s Baramulla police station against Abdul Majid Sheikh @ Malla, the then Patwari (now posted as Girdawar Qanoongo Circle Nowshera Tehsil Boniyar) and investigation was initiated.
Immediately after registration of the case searches were also conducted at the residence of the accused during which some cash of ₹3.80 lakh beside other incriminating documents were also recovered which were seized on spot.
During the course of this DA verification it surfaced that the suspect has purchased immovable property in the shape of proprietary land of more than 16 Kanals from many persons falling under different survey Nos at Wahigund Kunzer from time to time and these properties have been fraudulently mutated by way of two oral gift deeds in order to evade applicable stamp duty & registration fee etc.
It was found that the accused in league with revenue officers/officials namely Bashir Ahmad Reshi and Manzoor Ahmad Khanday, both then Patwari Halqa Wailoo Kralpora, besides Altaf Hussain Khan, then Naib Tehsildar Wailoo Kralpora had illegally and fraudulently entered two different oral gift mutations vide No. 117 dated Nil & No. 123 dated 15.01.2015 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 further revealed that the above named officers/officials in league with suspect beneficiary have made illegal insertions in 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 05 Kanals & 07 Marlas was shown orally gifted to suspect, his wife as well as his son which was actually purchased by Abdul Majid Sheikh @ Malla against substantial consideration amounts.
It has also found that similarly, another oral gift mutation No. 123 was illegally and fraudulently inserted in Parti-Patwar register by said revenue officers/officials by showing land measuring 14-Kanals & 05 Marlas orally gifted to suspect and to his brother which was too purchased by suspect Abdul Majid Sheikh @ Malla against substantial consideration amount. Therefore, in both the cases, the involved revenue officers/officials were having ample knowledge that the said land propertieswere not actually been orally gifted to the suspect beneficiary or to any one of his family members but have 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 contraventionto laid down norms.
The verification conducted as such revealed that the above named revenue officers/officials, by abuse of their official positions and under a well-knit criminal conspiracy with the suspect beneficiary Abdul Majid Sheikh @ Malla have paved a way to evade the applicable stamp duty as well as registration charges, thereby conferred huge undue pecuniary gains upon themselves as well as to beneficiary with commensurate loss to Government exchequer. Accordingly, a separate FIR No 08 under section 5(1) (d) r/w 5(2) J&K PC Act Svt-2006 and sections 467, 468,471,120-B of RPC was registered at ACB PS Baramulla and investigations were initiated against all three revenue officials including the beneficiary accused namely Abdul Majid Sheikh @ Malla resident of Wahigund Tehsil Kunzer.
Further investigations in both cases are going on.