The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered two more FIRs in the Jammu Custodian Land Scam, exposing another alleged layer of fraudulent land transfers. The fresh cases are related to the illegal transfer of Custodian land in the Bhalwal and Amb areas of Jammu district.
According to the ACB, revenue officials, Form Alaf holders and land grabbers allegedly worked in connivance to secure illegal mutations and transfer government land to ineligible persons using forged documents and fake allotment orders.
The investigation revealed that several displaced families from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) had already been allotted land under rehabilitation schemes. Despite this, some of their relatives allegedly obtained additional land by securing mutations without valid Government or Provisional Rehabilitation Office (PRO) orders, or by using forged documents.
The agency further alleged that the land was later sold to private buyers through beneficiaries and their middlemen, resulting in a significant financial loss to the Government.
In one case, the ACB is investigating the alleged fraudulent transfer of around 12 kanals and 3 marlas of Custodian land in Bhalwal. An FIR has been registered against three former revenue officials—including a Patwari, Girdawar and Naib Tehsildar—as well as three private individuals under the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The second case relates to the alleged illegal conferment of ownership rights over nearly 15 kanals and 8 marlas of Custodian land in Amb village in favour of ineligible beneficiaries. Revenue officials and beneficiaries have been named in the FIR.
Earlier, the ACB had registered 27 FIRs after uncovering alleged irregularities in the transfer of more than 1,000 kanals of Custodian land through fake allotment orders.
The ACB said investigations into all the registered cases are currently underway.
(AGENCIES)
