Srinagar, Feb 19, KNT: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against Bharat Bhushan Sharma, former Managing Director of J&K Cooperative Housing Corporation (JKCHC), and several revenue officials for alleged illegal occupation and allotment of state land.

The case stems from a preliminary enquiry into allegations that JKCHC acquired 392 kanals of private land in Bain Bajalta, Jammu, to establish a housing colony. However, the corporation, in connivance with revenue officials, allegedly occupied an additional 584 kanals of state land, including Kah Charai, Maqbuza Sarkar, and Jammu Development Authority (JDA) land, before allotting plots to various iindividuals.

Investigators found that 111 kanals and 17 marlas of state land were illegally taken over, along with 100 kanals and 15 marlas of land vested under the J&K Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976. The ACB concluded that officials had misused their positions to facilitate these transfers, violating government regulations and fraudulently benefitting themselves and others.

Those named in the case include former Tehsildars Shesh Paul Salgotra and Sanjay Badyal, former Naib Tehsildar Mahesh Chander, and former Patwaris Farooq Hussain and Nek Mohammad, among others. They face charges under the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the RPC.

An FIR (No. 02/2025) has been lodged at ACB Central Police Station, and further investigations are underway.(KNT)