The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has uncovered a brazen nexus between officials of multiple government departments in the illegal allocation of a petrol pump to a private individual on government land.
The ACB registered FIR No. 21/2025 at Police Station ACB Srinagar following verification based on a complaint received from residents of the village Arigam, Budgam.
Verification revealed that one Ali Mohammad Khan, son of Sonaullah Khan, a resident of Arigam, Budgam, had constructed a petrol pump on Kahcharaie land (community land) at Arigam in June 2020, on the basis of a license issued by the competent authority on manipulated and misleading facts.
Investigations further disclosed that in 2018, No Objection Certificates (NOCs) were issued by the then Patwari Arigam, Naib Tehsildar Arigam, and Tehsildar Khansahab for proprietary land under Survey Nos. 531 and 533 Min. However, these officers deliberately omitted to record that access to the said land was only through State/Kahcharaie land (Survey No. 535) and failed to mention that it was separated from the main road by encroached community land.
It also surfaced that the concerned Patwari concealed the existence of Survey No. 532 (Shamilat land) while preparing the Khaka Dasti, thereby misrepresenting the actual site details. Despite a clarification sought by the ADC Budgam in March 2018, the field staff falsely reported that the site was suitable for the transportation and storage of fuel.
On the basis of these misleading NOCs and reports, the then Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, issued Petrol Pump License No. DCB/2020/10 dated 22.05.2020 in favour of the beneficiary for Survey Nos. 531 and 533, which were not adjacent to each other. The then SDM Khansahab also forwarded the reports to higher authorities without conducting an independent site verification or record scrutiny.
By abusing their official positions and acting in criminal conspiracy with the beneficiary, the concerned revenue officers and officials facilitated encroachment on State land and conferred undue pecuniary benefit upon the said individual.
Accordingly, offences under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) and Section 120-B of the IPC have been established against the accused public servants and the beneficiary. Consequently, FIR No. 21/2025 has been registered at Police Station ACB Srinagar.
Patwari caught red-handed with ₹35 lakh
In another major case, the ACB registered FIR No. 19/2025 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Sunil Kumar, Patwari, Patwar Halqa Dadui, Tehsil and District Samba, for demanding and accepting illegal gratification from a complainant.
The accused public servant had demanded a bribe of ₹1,00,000 from the complainant for preparing a report sought by Tehsildar Samba on the complainant's application regarding the correction of Girdawari. After negotiations, the Patwari agreed to accept ₹80,000 instead of the initially demanded amount. The complainant managed to get ₹20,000 from the agreed sum and approached the ACB to take legal action instead of paying the bribe.
Upon receiving the complaint, a discreet verification was conducted, which corroborated the bribe demand. Consequently, FIR No. 19/2025 was registered at Police Station ACB Jammu, and an investigation was initiated.
During the investigation, a trap team was constituted, which successfully caught the accused red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe amount from the complainant in the presence of independent witnesses. The accused was arrested on the spot after following due legal procedure, and the tainted money was recovered from his possession in the presence of witnesses.
Further, during the search of his personal vehicle, the ACB team recovered and seized cash amounting to over ₹35 lakh. Simultaneous searches were also conducted at the residential premises of the accused public servant in the presence of Magistrates.
