| CBI books Kanta Andotra; ex-DC, others in Kathua land scam | | | 
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 15: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Kanta Andotra, wife of former minister and founder of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, Ch Lal Singh, and chairperson of R B Education Trust, was among half a dozen officers/officials of revenue department for making a false declaration to possess land in excess of the ceiling fixed on the agricultural land by Jammu and Kashmir Government. “The then Deputy Commissioner Kathua, Ajay Singh Jamwal, then Tehsildar Marheen, Avtar Singh, Naib Tehsildar Dheeraj Kumar, Girdwar Ram Pal and Patwari Sudesh Kumar have been booked by CBI”, sources said, adding that the CBI was, at present, conducting searches at nine places belonging to R B Education Trust, besides residences of Kanta Andotra and other accused as they caused loss to the state exchequer by helping the Trust possess land excess to the prescribed ceiling on the basis of false declaration. The trust runs a school, B.Ed (Bachelor of Education) and nursing colleges on the land, transactions of which are being probed by the central agency for alleged irregularities in its purchase.
“On June 25 this year, CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry to look into the allegations of land grabbing and corruption by an educational trust being run by the former minister’s family. In the PE, it had been alleged that the revenue officials in order to enable Education Trust purchase Agricultural land for non-agriculture purposes, had issued false certificates that it fell in the exempted category under JK Agrarian Reforms Act”, they said, adding that the Trust was accused of possessing huge tracts of land in gross violation of ceiling prescribed under Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976. |
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