In what is turning out to be a big scam in Jammu and Kashmir's Power Development Department (PDD), the police have arrested an employee for allegedly siphoning off Rs 5.72 crore by transferring money paid as electricity bills to his personal and family members' bank accounts.
Mushtaq Ahmad Malik hails from Argam in North Kashmir's Bandipora district. He had been working as a senior assistant in the office of Executive Engineer, Electric Division, Sumbal. It is also suspected that Malik facilitated several illegal appointments in the PDD.
"We are getting leads that there may be a possible nexus between various PDD employees involved in the fraudulent withdrawal of electricity bills and transferring the amount to various bank accounts. In fact, we got hold of the accused when various banks informed us of dubious credits," Senior Superintendent Police (Crime Branch) Javid Koul told International Business Times, India.
"This is not only a matter of misuse of public money but also of fraud appointments. The monthly salaries which were drawn by those illegally appointed employees over all these years definitely point towards grave departmental negligence," Koul added.
