Crime Branch Kashmir on Thursday produced a charge-sheet against 158 persons including officers, officials of Power Development Department (PDD), Finance, J&K Bank, and the fake employees for misappropriated of over Rs 7.25 crores from the government exchequer.
Not only the prime accused has swindled Rs 7.25, but he embezzled over Rs 14 crores in total by illegally withdrawing arrears of some genuine employees of his department.
The chargesheet was produced in case FIR No. 25/2018 of Police Station Crime Branch Kashmir against accused Mushtaq Ahmad Malik, the then Senior Assistant in PDD, Division Sumbal, Bandipora in Kashmir, and 112 other accused officers/officials of PDD, Finance, J&K Bank and 45 fake employees.
Fake employees created to withdraw salaries
According to Crime Branch, during the investigation, it has been established that the prime accused Mushtaq Ahmad Malik along with other accused officers/officials have misappropriated an amount of more than Rs 7.25 crores by adopting the modus operandi of drawing illegal salary of non-existent employees, the illegal regular salary of five retired employees and drawl of illegal arrears in respect of 301 PDD employees.
Mushtaq Ahmad Malik in criminal conspiracy with other officers/officials of PDD appointed 45 employees by preparing their fake service books on the production of fake appointment orders.
The illegal salaries were withdrawn by these fake employees from 2003 amount to more than Rs 7.41 crores.
"Therefore, it has been established that the accused persons in criminal conspiracy with one another and by abuse of their official positions have embezzled/ misappropriated a total amount of more than 14.72 crores," statement of Crime Branch reads.
However, the Crime Branch informed that during the investigation, an amount of Rs 5.17 crores was recovered from the possession of the prime accused person Mushtaq Ahmad Malik and remitted in the government treasury based on an order issued by the Court of Anti-Corruption Judge, Srinagar.
Prime accused was arrested in July 2018
Mushtaq Ahmed Malik was taken into custody by Crime Branch for allegedly siphoning off a huge amount from a government account to 22 private bank accounts belonging to him and his relatives.
The Crime Branch sleuths found that he had fraudulently drained crores of rupees from an official account standing in the name of Executive Engineer Electric Division Sumbal. He transferred the said amount into 22 bank accounts maintained and operated in his name and that of his family members.
The accused and his family members had earned Rs 43.82 lakh as interest on the siphoned off public money in these bank accounts.
