Srinagar, September 17: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered three separate First Information Reports (FIRs) against officers and officials from the Motor Vehicle, Rural Development, and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Departments. The investigations involve allegations of accumulating assets disproportionate to known sources of income and malpractices in the distribution of government food grains.
Information was available with The Chenab Times that one of the FIRs details a disproportionate assets case against Ashwani Kumar, an employee of the Motor Vehicle Department, booked at Police Station ACB Jammu. The ACB stated that verification revealed Kumar had acquired substantial movable and immovable assets, including commercial properties, plots, flats, and luxury vehicles, in his name and those of his family members. These assets are alleged to be disproportionate to his known income. A search warrant was obtained, and his residential premises in Vinayak Nagar, Muthi, Jammu, were searched in the presence of independent witnesses and magistrates.
In a separate development, the ACB registered another FIR at Police Station ACB Baramulla against Sheeba Inayat, a Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) officer, who was the Block Development Officer in Singhpora/Pattan at the time. This FIR, lodged under the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, pertains to the accumulation of assets significantly exceeding her known sources of income. The assets reportedly include a substantial bank balance, Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs), Life Insurance Policies, jewellery, and significant immovable properties such as a five-storey commercial shopping complex in Baramulla and plots in Baramulla, Gulmarg, Kreeri, and Chowadi, Jammu.
A third FIR has also been registered at Police Station ACB Baramulla, also naming Sheeba Inayat, in her capacity as the then Assistant Director of the Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution (CAPD) Department in Baramulla, along with Mohammad Shafi Rather, a former salesman in the CAPD Department, and other public servants. This case centers on alleged malpractices in the distribution of government food grains under the Public Distribution System between June 2013 and June 2015.
The ACB’s investigation in the third case has established an unauthorized diversion of food grains from Above Poverty Line (APL) to Below Poverty Line (BPL)/Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) categories, involving an amount of Rs 26,32,468. Furthermore, an unexplained shortage of 16,763.77 quintals of food grains, valued at Rs 1,67,63,770, has been noted. Discrepancies of 6,120.13 quintals worth Rs 61,20,130 were found between district and circle-wise statements, along with a short remittance of Rs 6,74,194. An abnormal escalation in ration cards during the 2014 floods also contributed to a wrongful loss of Rs 2,61,90,562 to the state exchequer, according to the ACB.
Searches were conducted at the residential and office premises of the accused in these cases, and incriminating material was seized. The Anti-Corruption Bureau has stated that further investigations in all three registered FIRs are ongoing. The action signifies a continued effort by the authorities to curb corruption and ensure accountability within government departments across Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chenab Times News Desk