Several revenue officials booked for fraud

Several former and serving officials of Jammu and Kashmir revenue department along with six others were booked for alleged fraud, forgery and illegal mutation of the state land, by crime branch today.
"A criminal case under various sections has been registered against, R K Thusu, the then Executive officer Jammu Municipality, Surinder Kumar Sharma senior town planner Jammu Municipality, Subhash Chander Patwari Halqa Raipur and Shanto Saroop Gupta the then tehsildar Jammu and officers of Jammu Municipality revenue department," SSP Crime Mubassir Latifi said.
He said the case was also registered against six others Ashok Kumar, Gagan Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Sunny Sawhney, Alka Sawhney.

Stating about the case he said that the military department has allotted some land to Fami Chand Sawhney at the posh Vikram Chowk area, on the condition that no construction would be done on the land as it belonged to the Jammu Municipality.
However, Ved Prakash son of Fami Chand occupied the land and constructed shops over the said land without the permission from the Municipality, thereby violating the agreement of lease executed between him and the Municipality.
"The lease was cancelled by the Municipality in the year 1973 through a resolution. Later the allotment was also cancelled in the year 1987 by the Municipality after affording an opportunity to Ved Prakash of being heard.

"Ved Prakash challenged the order of cancellation of his allotment before the J&K Special Tribunal which was dismissed and thereafter he approached the High Court but his petition was dismissed and order of eviction was passed by the High Court on March 10, 1997" the SSP said.

He said that the order of eviction was not implemented and the land in question was illegally mutated by Tehsildar Jammu in favour of the accused.
"After getting the land illegally and fraudulently mutated, three members of the family of Ved Prakash, Alka Sawhney, Gagan Sawhney and Dinesh Sawhney managed the building permission from Building Operation Controlling Authority (BOCA) but the same was subsequently withdrawn on the ground that Ved Prakash was not the owner of Municipal land and that the land was fraudulently mutated," Latifi said.

He said that during the course of enquiry, it was found that the land was state land and despite the orders of eviction passed by the High Court, the illegal occupants connived with the then executive officer Jammu Municipality R K Thusu, Surinder Kumar Sharma, Sr Town Planner and other officers illegally mutated the land for the accused.
"Accordingly, a case under various sections was registered in Crime Branch, Jammu and further investigation has been taken up," he said.