Saahil Suhail
Early Times Report
Anantnag, Oct 13: After registering preliminary enquiry, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday commenced the process to verify the allegation of land grabbing against former legislator and Apni Party leader Rafi Ahmad Mir.
Sources revealed to Early Times that a team of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrived at the famed tourist spot Pahalgam this morning and visited multiple properties owned by Rafi Ahmad Mir for ground verification.
Mir, who left Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the abrogation of Article 370 to join Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party, however has refuted the allegations of land grabbing.
“The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) started its exercise from an erstwhile toll plaza room that the officials of municipality have now converted into a shop and allotted to a private party in violation of norms,” an officer, who assisted the ACB team, told Early Times over phone.
The officer said that the Anti-Corruption Bureau team also visited the properties owned by Rafi Ahmad Mir to check whether the former legislator had encroached any land at these places or not.
“There is a complaint against Rafi Ahmad Mir in which it is being alleged that he grabbed land at Pahalgam. So the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) visited Pahalgam for ground verification,” revealed sources.
During the raids, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) segregated the complaint after ground verification and has now sought details from the concerned departments primarily from revenue department for further verification, they added.
Rafi Ahmad Mir, in his previous poll affidavit has disclosed that he owns around 245 kanals of agriculture land under Survey Numbers .3032/1138,3010/1137,3023/1162,412, 460,988,991,1164,23, 3030/404,228,1284, 1285, 30/11,2294/815,2372/814, 1265,2837/192. He has also disclosed that he owns three Hotel buildings at Pahalgam under S.No.651/260, 276/650,622/260, with an area-3 Kanals 4 Marlas. Mir also partly owns one commercial Hut Parrypora Pahalgam under S.No.894, having an area-9 Marlas. The cumulative value of his immovable assets is more than Rs 19 crore.
Multiple attempts to seek more details and clarification from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) failed as senior officials in the agency didn’t respond to calls and text messages.
However, Rafi Ahmad Mir on being contacted welcomed the agency’s move and hoped that it will probe the case without any fear and favor. “I am open to any kind investigation. Let them probe it without any pressure, fear and favor,” he said, adding he hasn’t encroached a single inch of land at Pahalgam.
Mir said that he will quit politics if the allegations were proven true. “I am being targeted because I didn’t allow a BJP leader to encroach a patch of land at Pahalgam. I alerted the agencies at that time and now he has started filling baseless allegations against me,” he said.
Sources in the agency revealed to Early Times that land encroachments at Pahalgam have come under the scanner of the agency after the matter came into the notice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court a few weeks earlier. They said that the agency might extend its probe and book all those who encroached prized forest and state land at Pahalgam.
“Process to identify those officials who helped encroachers by tampering with revenue records is on,” they claimed.
They also claimed that the agency has come across a case in which the Revenue Department has recently declared a patch of forest land as property land despite objections raised by the Forest Demarcation Division of the Forest Department.
As reported earlier, around 2500 kanals of land including forest and wildlife land is under illegal encroachment at Pahalgam. Some encroachers have even managed to construct hotels on state land that too under the watch of officials of PDA and Revenue Department. |
