The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday achieved a major success as they busted one of the major land scams involving hundreds of kanals and booked revenue officers, land grabbers along with their conduits.
“The Custodian land in Asarwan, Mishriwala and Bhalwal area of Jammu district has been found usurped by the land mafia in connivance with the officers/officials of Custodian, Revenue and Police department,” a spokesman of ACB said.
He said inputs were received that Custodian land in thousands of Kanal 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 ACB conducted a formal verification wherein it was found that in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, FORM 3-A (Form Alf) along with power of attorneys (POAs) were obtained from various POK Refugees, alluring them of additional lands and providing them instant money ranging from 5000/- to 50,000/- by the conduits of land grabbers, and thereafter insertions/additions regarding additional chunks of custodian lands were made in the revenue records by the officials/officers of the Revenue and Custodian department, by sheer abuse of their official positions, and these lands were sold by the conduits and attorney holders to various persons including their own gang leaders and members, by resorting to fraudulent means, thereby causing a huge loss to the Govt,” the spokesman said.
He said owing to the establishment of, prima facie, nexus of the criminal elements/land grabbers and the Revenue/Custodian officers/officials in alienation of Custodian land through fraudulent means, ACB has registered 5 formal case FIRs in P/s Central J&K for investigation under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and fraud. During the course of investigation, after obtaining the search warrants from the Special Judge Anti-Corruption Jammu, search teams comprising ACB officers, Independent Witnesses, Magistrates were dispatched to around sixteen locations throughout Jammu and its adjoining areas, which are still going on.
“In addition to 5 FIRs registered, verification is still in progress to unearth the remaining usurped custodian land by land mafia in connivance with officers and officials of Revenue, Police and Custodian department,” the ACB spokesman said.
