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| Azad’s campaign against corrupt elements yielding swift results | | SVO raids 15 premises, registers FIRs against 4 officers | | Srinagar, September 21 – Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has already launched campaign to eradicate the menace of corruption and accordingly enacted a legislation empowering State Vigilance Organization with adequate powers attaching properties after identifying corrupt elements.
For the last several months Vigilance Organization has been on alert at registered several cases and attached properties of corrupt elements. Accordingly, State Vigilance Organization in an effort to unearth property acquired by Government officials by indulging in corrupt practices and cases of misappropriation of government funds raided this morning 15 premises owned by 7 officers and a trader at Jammu, Poonch Doda, Kishtwar, Kud, Anantnag, Srinagar and Budgam.
First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against four officers for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income and searches conducted. The officers include Mr. Hamid Shawl, Executive Engineer, PDD, Bijbehara, Anantnag, Haji Abdul Rashid, Executive Engineer, Mechanical Irrigation Division, Shadipora, Baramulla, Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Dar, then Executive Engineer (under suspension) R&B Division, Khanabal, Anantnag, Mr. Ashwani Kumar, Assistant Executive Engineer, M&RE Division Poonch.
It may be recalled here that Mr. Abdul Hamid Shawl owns a palatial house on over 2.5 kanals of land, presently valued over Rs 1.10 crore in Gousia Colony, Channpora, Srinagar. He purchased six kanals of land in prime location in the same colony. Sometime back, part of this land was gifted away by the officer to a close relative to avoid detection. Two of his children are pursuing medical courses outside the country. He owns a kanal of land in Jammu, which is also in the name of a close relative. A number of expensive gadgets and carpets were also detected.
Haji Abdul Rashid owns a palatial house worth Rs 75 lakh. The house has expensive fittings and furnishings. The search party detected 445 gms of gold, of which gold worth Rs 1.75 lakh was purchased from Haryana in January 2006. A number of bank accounts in Delhi and the State and ICICI bonds have been detected. LIC fixed deposits of Rs 3 lakh and cash and bank accounts worth over Rs 10 lakh were also detected.
Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Dar besides owning a concrete 2-storyed house has been found owning a number of plots of land. Four bank accounts with a total balance of over Rs 35 lakh were detected. A locker has also been found in his operation, will be separately opened and checked.
Mr. Ashwani Kumar, Assistant Engineer owns a house at Trikuta Nagar, Jammu and a 3storyed hotel on four kanals of land at Kud, another plot measuring five kanals of land at Kud, besides a house at Poonch. Two lockers operated by the officer were detected during the searches which have been frozen.
The Vigilance teams during the searches of premises of these four officers have so far detected movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 8 crore.
Two cases have been registered against officials for purchases made at exorbitant rates and causing loss to the exchequer. Mr. Kulbushan Sharma, then Director, Floriculture and presently Project Director, Bagh-i-Bahu and other members of the purchase committee in a criminal conspiracy with Mr. Pawan Suri of M/S Swastk Enterprises, Jammu purchased machinery items worth over Rs 40 lakh in November-December 2004. The cost of this equipment at the point of the original distributor was Rs 24 lakh only. The purchase committee headed by the then Director Floriculture fully aw are of the availability of the machinery at lower prices had deliberately and with a criminal intent purchased it on exorbitant rates for pecuniary benefits and causing loss to the state exchequer. The residential premises of Mr. Kulbushan Sharma, then Director Mr. Pran Dulloo, Deputy Director and Mr. Pawan Suri led to detection of incriminating documents.
Mr. Muzaffar Hussain Shah (presently Chief Engineer, Baghliar Project) during posting as Superintending Engineer, Hydraulic Circle, Doda placed orders worth Rs 14.25 lakh without proper competition to firms some of which have been found to be not existent, at highly exorbitant rates causing loss of over Rs 6 lakh to the exchequer. The investigating teams from Vigilance Organization searched the offices of hydraulic Circle, Doda and Kishtwar to seize documents connected with the purchase.
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