Jammu and Kashmir Anti Corruption Bureau unearths major land scam in Jammu
JAMMU, JULY 08: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau has uncovered a major land scam involving the illegal seizure of Custodian land in the Bhalwal and Amb areas of Jammu district. The land was allegedly usurped by a land mafia working in connivance with Form Alf holders and officials from the Custodian and Revenue departments.
This follows previous inputs revealing that thousands of kanals of Custodian land across Asarwan, Mishriwala, Bhalwal, and R.S. Pura had been fraudulently grabbed, leading to the tampering of revenue records and illegal land sales. Earlier verifications revealed that over 1,000 kanals of land were falsely allotted to displaced persons using counterfeit orders, leading to 27 initial FIRs that remain under active investigation.
Further inquiry revealed that family members of displaced persons from Pakistan, who were not entitled to additional allotments, managed to secure land mutations in the Bhalwal area through revenue officials without any authentic government or Provisional Rehabilitation Office orders.
These individuals subsequently transferred the property to various buyers through attorney holders and conduits, causing significant losses to the state exchequer. Consequently, the anti-corruption body registered FIR No. 09/2026 against several individuals, including former Patwari Altaf Hussain, former Girdawar Amjid Malik, the then Naib Tehsildar Bhalwal Aqeel Ahmad, alongside Mohan Singh, Rabina Kouser, and Nazir Hussain for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and corruption.
In a separate but related development, another case was registered following a complaint by Kuldeep Singh regarding fraudulent mutations and the illegal conferment of ownership rights in Amb village. The verification showed that revenue officials abused their positions to transfer approximately 15 kanals and 8 marlas of land to unauthorized beneficiaries.
This led to the registration of FIR No. 10/2026 against former Patwari Halqa Baldev Raj, former Naib Tehsildar Pawan Kumar Kohli, and beneficiary Rashpal Singh, among others. Investigations into both newly registered cases are currently underway.