The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has unearthed a major land exchange scam involving prime property in Srinagar’s high-security Gupkar area. Officials allegedly approved an illegal swap of government and proprietary land, resulting in losses worth crores to the state exchequer.
According to the ACB, the land exchange took place in 2014–15, when a patch of proprietary land in Gupkar—whose title was under the Defence Ordinance—was exchanged for a high-value custodian land parcel. The original owner of the proprietary land had approached the Revenue Department seeking easement rights, but the file remained pending for years.
Subsequently, officials allegedly devised a plan to develop the area as a colony for senior government officers, citing security reasons. When the Custodian and Revenue Departments later processed the case, official records clearly stated that the tenancy of the land was with the Defence Estates. However, the documents were allegedly approved in violation of these facts, facilitating the land exchange.
“The land five kanal and 15 marlas, which was used in the exchange, was a landlocked and low-cost patch without easement rights. In return, the beneficiary received an evacuated custodian land of much higher market value,” Assistant Inspector General (Administration), Javid Hassan Bhat said while addressing a press conference.
Bhat said investigations revealed that the exchange was approved despite repeated notations in official documents highlighting the Defence Estates’ possession. The bureau alleged that officials of the Revenue and Custodian Departments, along with private beneficiaries and brokers, conspired to carry out the illegal exchange, inflicting heavy losses on the government.
A complaint received by the ACB claimed that a private individual’s land had been encroached multiple times in the same area. During verification, the bureau found that 17 marlas out of the 5 kanals and 15 marlas involved in the exchange were still under the control of the Defence Ordinance.
“To confirm this, we employed an electronically devised mechanism, which established that nearly half of the land in question remained Defence property,” the SSP said.
Taking cognizance of the findings, the ACB registered FIR No. 19/2025 under Section 5(1)(d) read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, naming several officers of the Revenue and Custodian Departments, beneficiaries, and intermediaries as accused.
Meanwhile, ACB registered a case against a senior police officer for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
According to the AIG, the case was filed under Section 13(1)(b) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act following a source report that revealed the officer had accumulated wealth far beyond his legitimate income.
“Preliminary investigations found that the officer had purchased around 33 kanals of land, including 17 kanals in Shahpura, Wathura Budgam, and owned two houses—one old and one newly constructed. The bureau also traced bank balances of approximately Rs 50 lakh, several vehicles, and expenses of over Rs 40 lakh on his children’s education, foreign travel, and insurance premiums,” Bhat said.
The ACB said further verification is underway into allegations that the officer misused government accounts for personal gain, including suspected fraudulent transactions involving family members’ accounts.
