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| Kundal report indicts senior PDP Minister | | FBI sleuths question former MD of SFC for US nationality | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Oct 7
Even as the storm was yet to settle down in the coalition relations that BR Kundal inquiry report is all set to kick off more dust. The findings of the inquiry have all the potential of rocking the government but it all now depends whether Chief Minister takes an action in follow up or just winds the file up.
The probe report which is ready since last week has indicted a senior Minister of the Peoples Democratic Party for conniving with the foreign timber supplying firms for which an artificial scarcity of timber was created, highly placed sources told EARLY TIMES.
Source said that the inquiry report was ready since early last week but the same could not be submitted to the Chief Minister as he was away in Delhi almost all this week. Sources who had access to the report said that the findings have all the potential of rocking the government if the Chief Minister chooses to initiate action on recommendations.
Interestingly, Qazi Mohammad Afzal, who had to loose even his Housing and Urban Development portfolio after Forest department was revoked from him, has not been found involved in any major controversial decision taken at his level. "In fact it is another ministerial colleague of Qazi who has been indicted by the Inquiry panel", said a source. The Minister found party to wrong decision was also allegedly instrumental in bringing in a senior official into the State Forest Corporation (SFC), sourced added.
Kundal was asked to carry out the probe on September 12 by Azad and study why and how the SFC had created "artificial scarcity" of timber in the state to facilitate import of the commodity in bulk from outside the state.
The report is also alleged to have also found "grave irregularities" involving bureaucrats and others, sources added.
Meanwhile, the sleuths of United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation are reported to have visited Srinagar and questioned the former top official of the State Forest Corporation (SFC), who was arrested for allegedly concealing his American citizenship.
Aijaz Ahmed, who is at present out on a conditional bail, was quizzed by the FBI officials recently in presence of state police as to how he had managed the US passport, official sources said.
His questioning included his address in the United States, his stay, information about his friends and relatives and whether he had undertaken any job there, the sources said.
After questioning him for over an hour, the FBI team, which was accompanied by Political Secretary in the US Embassy in New Delhi , also discussed the case with the Jammu and Kashmir police and took details about his US passport procured in 2000, the sources said.
The FBI would now weigh the interrogation report before deciding on whether to slap separate charges against Aijaz.
The US Embassy in New Delhi had been informed about Aijaz's arrest on September 19 under the Indian Passport Act for allegedly suppressing information about his US citizenship while applying for an Indian travel document.
Aijaz may be slapped with some more charges including violation of Foreigners Act and Immigration Act as he had allegedly given a wrong address on disembarkation card during his travel from the US in May in 2007. |
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