SRINAGAR: The Government has given approval for an inquiry into a Senior Superintendent of Police and his subordinates in relation to corrupt practices in the hiring of vehicles for the Police Control Room (PCR) in Srinagar, The Daily Excelsior reported.
The sanction was granted to the Crime Branch of the Police under the Prevention of Corruption Act to investigate 10 police officials involved in the vehicle hiring scandal. These officials comprise SSP Zubair Ahmad Khan, ASP Farhat Jeelani, SDP Mushtaq Ahmad, SI Nisar Ahmad, Head Constables Abdul Rashid and Fareed Ahmad, as well as constables Bilal Ahmad, Najamul Gani, Syed Tasweer, and Tawseef Ahmad.
In July of this year, the Police had requested the Government’s approval for a Crime Branch inquiry into these officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.
An official, while speaking to The Daily Excelsior stated that the PCR in Srinagar had engaged private vehicles to transport security forces and that the officials had falsely reported more vehicles than were actually hired. Some of these vehicles were purportedly provided with fuel receipts from petrol pumps but were never utilised for security duties. This fraudulent activity resulted in significant financial losses to the state’s treasury.
The initial inquiry into the scam had been ongoing for several months, and once the fraud was confirmed, the Police sought the Government’s permission to formally conduct an inquiry into these officials.
This marks the second vehicle hiring scandal within the PCR in Srinagar. Previously, a few years ago, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) presented in the State Assembly had revealed that Rs 4.04 crore had been paid for the hiring of buses, trucks, and light motor vehicles during the 2014 Parliamentary and Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir Police. These vehicles were registered as scooters, motorcycles, non-commercial vehicles, including small cars, tractors, and bulldozers, or were simply non-existent.
The multi-crore scam in vehicle hiring by the police during the 2014 elections was first exposed in April 2016. At that time, the Police had denied any wrongdoing, but later, the CAG confirmed the fraudulent activities.
