Jammu 22 August:-The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated a significant crackdown on a sprawling land grab and corruption racket in Jammu, with its local unit conducting extensive searches at nine locations across the region.
According to officials, the raids, carried out on Tuesday at eight premises in Jammu and one in Udhampur, target a network of government officials and others allegedly involved in the illegal usurpation and fraudulent mutation of valuable Custodian land—properties that belonged to evacuees who migrated from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) during and after the 1947 partition.
The individuals under the scanner have been identified as Pranav Dev Singh and Rahul Kai, both Patwaris (revenue officials responsible for land records), and Akeel Ahmed, a Naib Tehsildar, among others.
The ED’s action is based on a money laundering case it registered after taking cognizance of a First Information Report (FIR) originally filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (Central) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The central probe agency is investigating the alleged generation of massive proceeds of crime through a well-organized syndicate that illegally occupied, sold, and mutated these protected lands, worth crores of rupees, starting from the year 2022 onwards.
The searches aim to gather crucial evidence, including documents related to illicit property transactions and digital records, to unravel the financial trail and identify the full extent of the conspiracy and the assets acquired through the alleged corrupt practices.
