CBI files case in defence land sale in Kashmir

The CBI registered the case against the then Defence Estate Officer Ajay Chowdhury, his second-in-command Vijay Kumar and a lady officer in the same department under various sections of Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Ranbir Penal Code, agency sources said.

Chowdhury is a 1997-batch Defence Estates official.

Immediately after registering the cases, the CBI carried out searches at various places in Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi, Patna and Ambala against the accused persons and their kin, the CBI sources said.

According to the CBI case, it was alleged that a huge area of Defence Ministry land near a sensitive zone in Srinagar was suspected to have been taken by private persons in connivance with officials of Revenue Department of Jammu and Kashmir State and Directorate General of Defence Estates (DGDE), Srinagar.

There was no provision to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the office of DGDE for the purpose of sale or purchase of defence owned or occupied land, the CBI said.

As per the existing rules, defence land cannot be alienated to anyone without prior approval but the accused officials allegedly entered into criminal conspiracy with unknown private persons and issued NOCs for the purpose of sale or purchase of defence land measuring 12.25 acres which was neither owned by Defence Ministry or by the state government. (MORE)