JAMMU, July 9 : The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered two fresh FIRs in connection with the alleged illegal transfer of Custodian land in Jammu district, exposing further details of a suspected land scam involving revenue officials, beneficiaries and middlemen.
According to an ACB official, the latest cases pertain to alleged fraudulent transfers of Custodian land in Bhalwal and Amb areas of Jammu. The agency has alleged that revenue officials, Form Alaf holders and land grabbers colluded to secure illegal mutations and transfer government land to ineligible persons using forged documents and fake allotment orders.
The ACB’s verification reportedly found that several displaced families from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir had already received land under rehabilitation schemes. However, some relatives allegedly obtained additional land through unauthorised mutations without valid government or Provisional Rehabilitation Office (PRO) orders, or by relying on forged records.
The agency alleged that the illegally transferred land was later sold to private buyers through beneficiaries and intermediaries, causing financial losses to the government exchequer.
In one FIR, the ACB has alleged the fraudulent transfer of around 12 kanals and 3 marlas of Custodian land in Bhalwal. The case has been registered against three former revenue officials — a Patwari, Girdawar and Naib Tehsildar — along with three private individuals under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC.
The accused include former Patwari Altaf Hussain, former Girdawar Amjid Malik, former Naib Tehsildar Bhalwal Aqeel Ahmad, along with private individuals Mohan Singh, Rabina Kouser and Nazir Hussain.
In the second case, registered on the complaint of Kuldeep Singh, the ACB alleged that revenue officials illegally granted ownership rights over nearly 15 kanals and 8 marlas of Custodian land in Amb village to ineligible beneficiaries.
Those named in the FIR include former Amb Patwar Halqa Patwari Baldev Raj, former Naib Tehsildar Pawan Kumar Kohli and beneficiary Rashpal Singh, among others.
The latest FIRs come after the ACB had earlier registered 27 cases following allegations of irregularities in the transfer of more than 1,000 kanals of Custodian land through fake allotment orders. The investigation into all related cases is currently underway.
