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| Few politicians, bureaucrats, police officers under scanner | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 13: If it happens, it will be a development Jammu and Kashmir cannot be proud of. An anti-corruption watchdog has put some politicians, bureaucrats and legislators under its scanner, and plans to prepare and issue a detailed list of their assets, which they had as common men and which they have now.
If not interfered with, the probe outcome could cause embarrasment to the NC-run coalition government. Transparency International has already labelled Jammu and Kashmir as the second most corrupt state in the country after Bihar.
Now, having zeroed in on few politicians, and civil and police officers (serving and retired), the anti-corruption body was preparing a detailed list of their moveable and immovable assets. Astonishingly, it is a rags-to-riches story for many of them living princely lives, the initial findings have revealed. Sources privy to the probe said a politician, who was a small time contractor before he plunged into active politics seven to eight years back, had allegedly acquired huge assets.
Sources said politics had become a full-time business for a "select" group of politicians. While few of them were alleged to be busy in finding ways to extract huge contracts, others were satisfied with small works they were getting from chief engineers and heads of other government departments.
Using their influence, some leaders and police officers had taken off-licences, permits for plying buses on important routes and LPG agencies.
Sources said many of them, who were under the scanner, lived in single rooms before they joined politics or government services a decade or so back. But now, they had palatial houses and luxury cars and their children were studying in country's top educational institutions.
If the anti-corruption body was not restrained from moving ahead with its probe, several corrupt faces would be exposed, sources said.
Those, who ran tea stalls, were now in crores, the sources added. Sources said there were few upright politicians too but they had been cornered now. No off-licence, no bus route permit, and no petrol pump licence was found issued in their names or in the names of their nears and dears, the sources added. Though some bureaucrats were too faced with serious allegations of corruption against them, an anti-corruption body raid on the residence of one of them, who was linked with the preparation of ration cards for Kashmiri migrants at the time of mass migration from Kashmir, was cancelled at the last moment.
Thousands of Kashmiri migrant ration cards, issued during his tenure, were found fake and cancelled later. Few officers from revenue, horticulture and agriculture departments was alleged to be behind the preparation of these fake cards.
While some migrants had allegedly taken cards in the names of their children showing them as separate family units, some Jammu criminals too withdrew monthly relief money against fake cards. Sources said even as several hundred crores of relief money was swindled, no serious effort was made by the authorities concerned to identify the "big fishes" who had allegedly gobbled up the state money. Their files were also likely to be put to scrutiny once again, the sources added.
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