Srinagar, Nov 4: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a formal case in connection with the illegal construction of a petrol pump on Kahcharaie land in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. The case, registered under FIR No. 21/2025 at Police Station ACB Srinagar, follows a detailed verification based on a complaint lodged by the inhabitants of Arigam village.
According to the ACB, the verification established that one Ali Mohammad Khan, son of Sonaullah Khan, a resident of Arigam Budgam, constructed a petrol pump on Kahcharaie land at Arigam in June 2020 by obtaining a license through manipulated and misleading information.
The inquiry revealed that during 2018, the then Patwari, Naib Tehsildar, and Tehsildar of Arigam and Khansahab had issued No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for proprietary land under Survey Nos. 531 and 533 Min. However, they deliberately omitted to mention that access to these plots was only through State/Kahcharaie land (Survey No. 535), which lay between the site and the main road.
It was also found that the concerned Patwari concealed the existence of Survey No. 532 (Shamilat land) while preparing Khaka Dasti, thereby misrepresenting the actual position on the ground. Despite a clarification sought by the Additional Deputy Commissioner Budgam in March 2018, the field officials falsely certified the site as suitable for transportation and storage of fuel.
Based on these misleading reports, the then Deputy Commissioner Budgam issued a petrol pump license (No. DCB/2020/10 dated May 22, 2020) in favour of the beneficiary on non-contiguous survey numbers. The then Sub-Divisional Magistrate Khansahab also forwarded the reports to higher authorities without conducting any independent verification or record scrutiny.
The ACB stated that the revenue officers and the beneficiary, in criminal conspiracy, misused their official positions to facilitate encroachment on State land and conferred undue benefit upon the individual.
Offences under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code have been established against the accused public servants and the beneficiary.
Further investigation into the case is underway. [KNT]
