Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered a corruption case against three revenue officials and others over their alleged involvement in the fraudulent attestation of 162 land mutations covering nearly 1,050 kanals of land in Bijbehara tehsil of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, in one of the more significant land fraud cases to emerge from the Valley in recent months.
According to an official statement, the case has been registered against the then Tehsildar of Bijbehara, Ghulam Rasool Bhat, the then Naib Tehsildar of Bijbehara, Fayaz Ahmad Wani, the concerned Patwari, Ghulam Nabi Banday, and other accused persons. The case originated from a source based complaint alleging that the accused officials, acting in alleged connivance with others, attested mutations relating to nearly 1,050 kanals of land between 2022 and 2024 without execution of registered transfer deeds and without payment of the prescribed registration fee and stamp duty, resulting in a substantial alleged loss to the government exchequer.
The ACB said its verification of the allegations, supported by reports from the Departmental Vigilance Officer for Revenue, departmental inquiry committees and expert opinion, revealed alleged violations of revenue laws as well as Standing Order 23-A, which governs the attestation of land mutations in the Union Territory. The bureau’s verification further indicated that the purported relinquishment deeds were in fact sale transactions disguised to evade registration charges and stamp duty, with investigators alleging that money changed hands through intermediaries and multiple bank accounts in an apparent bid to conceal the true nature of the transactions.
Based on the material gathered during verification, the ACB said a prima facie case of alleged abuse of official position, criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct had been established against the accused. Accordingly, an FIR bearing number 06 of 2026 has been registered at Police Station ACB, Anantnag, under Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, against the officials and others named in the case.
Immediately following the registration of the FIR, the ACB conducted simultaneous searches at the residential premises of the accused after obtaining search warrants from the Court of the Special Judge, ACB, at Anantnag. The bureau said further investigation into the matter is currently underway, with officials indicating that additional individuals could be brought under the scanner as the probe into the alleged land mutation racket progresses.
