| Hawala case projected as fraud, DySP transferred; PHQ refers case to CB | | | SUMIT SHARMA
jammu, Feb 3: In an alleged case of corruption, a DySP ranked officer was transferred following his alleged role in converting a case of Hawala into fraud. He was one of the 160 DySPs who were transferred recently. After the case became talk of the town and attracted attention of the top brass of police, the PHQ referred the case to Crime Branch, Jammu for investigation. However, DIG Udhampur Reasi Range, Gareeb Dass when contacted said that , smelling foul, he wrote to PHQ for in- depth investigation. Meanwhile, a senior officer in Crime Branch said that investigation in this connection was in progress.
Highly placed sources in police department said that, the PHQ intervened and referred the case to Crime Branch following the allegation of corruption against Udhampur police. Sources said that the episode of corruption worth crores of rupees surfaced when Kud Police in the month of September 2013 rounded up some nomads who became rich overnight and started driving luxurious vehicles. These nomads were residing in between Mansar and Udhampur route. The Kud police registered a case of Hawala transaction against them and arrested number of persons including some influential ones namely Tarmeer, a contractor, in Batote and Mohd Iqbal. Police also seized eight luxurious vehicles including costly truck, Scorpio, Safari and others.
Sources further said that the PHQ smelled corruption, when an Additional Director of General of Police (ADGP) ranked officer, known for his honesty and dedication, on behalf of DGP directed Kud police to give him investigation report to prove that Hawala racket was operational in hilly district. The ADG's directives came to fore when Kud police request PHQ for approval of raids to be conducted outside the state, however, keeping aside ADG's directives, Kud police conducted raids in Punjab and seized four vehicles from there.
Sources further said that case took new shape,when one Ravi Kumar Gupta, a Jammu based contractor, made his entry and lodge complaint to the Kud Police stating that he was robbed of Rs 2 crores by the alleged accused in the name of providing him a 'magical thing' which would make him richest within days. Sources further added that neither the magical thing was recovered nor the amount. Further how the complainant managed whooping amount was not followed during investigation, though police claimed that a letter was shot to enforcement agencies including Income Tax department for probe.
Later, the Hawala case was turned into fraud. "A case under unlawful activities was turned into 420 RPC", sources informed, adding, "taking advantage of tampered investigation, the alleged accused managed bail and got the vehicles released".
Sources further said that the hawala racket could have been busted if the case was not tempered. The further investigation into the case are in progress in Crime Branch.
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