Suhail Rather

Srinagar, Apr 20: A Year after  Kashmir Convener expose fake recruitment scandal in Bandipora District, Crime Branch Kashmir registered an FIR against the accused officers and  129 accused employees for forging officials documents, cheating and hatching a criminal conspiracy.

        CBK has registered an FIR punishable U/S 420, 467,468,471,120-B/RPC, 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) P.C Act against the concerned officers/ officials and fake employees of Health Department.

        An official said that it received a communication from Directorate of Health Services Kashmir which inter-alia reveals that 129 persons have been identified by District Fund Officer Bandipora in 03 medical Blocks of District Bandipora viz block, Hajin Bandipora & Gurez who are holding fictitious GPF numbers and do not find any place in the records of District Fund Office Bandipora and also many illegal appointments have been made in medical block Bandipora, Hajin & Gurez. Subsequently, a preliminary enquiry was conducted at Crime Branch Kashmir.

        During the course of inquiry, it came to fore that 129 employees of District Bandipora, 26 from Block Bandipora, 17 from Hajin and 86 from Block Gurez have fictitious GPF A/C NO’s, with allotted computer code 7501, have been found fake and fictitious. The offices of BMO Bandipora, Hajin and Gurez have reflected the said fictitious GPF Code 7501 on the LPCs issued by them in favour of those fraudulently appointed employees.

The appointment orders purportedly to have been issued by CMO Baramulla are fake and fictitious issued in a fraudulent manner and then transferred to different Medical Blocks with their service books / LPCs prepared and dispatched.

In this manner a huge number of illegally and fraudulently appointed employees have been drawing salary deceitfully since long under a well knit criminal conspiracy in league with concerned officers/officials in well knit conspiracy a huge loss has been caused to the state exchequer against the corresponding wrongful gain to fraudulently appointed employees.

        In January last year, Kashmir Convener reported that an investigation by the Department Of Finance found 129 General provision Fund accounts fictitious which apparently looks like fake recruitment scandal run by some officials of health department.

        Documents available with Kashmir Convener revealed that over 129 GP Fund subscriptions, 86 from Gurez Block, 26 from Bandipora Block and 17 from Hajin block were found fake after the investigation by Local Fund office. The subscriptions of these employees according to sources are made from last 20 years which are recruited in violation of norms.

        The Chief Accounts Officer, District Fund Office Bandipora while making the posting of monthly GP schedules under computer series 7501…smelled rat and asked for documents of employees from health department who failed to produce the same.

A letter bearing no CAO/DFO/BPR/1739-40 Dated: 22-01-2018 which lies with Kashmir Convener reveals that the computer series 7501…stands allotted to District Fund Office Baramulla at the time of switching on to computerization  of GP fund. Since these employees where entirely new entrants to the GP Fund after the creation of District Bandipora, as such created doubts in minds of finance officials which constrained them to forward the list of these numbers to Chief Accounts Officer District Fund Office Baramulla for obtaining their authenticity/clarification, reads the letter.

        Chief Accounts Officer, Fund Office Baramulla after a thorough verification of his records has reported that these numbers are out-rightly fictitious and do not find any place in records.

        The letter further reads that rules and regulations have been violated during the contribution of GP Fund which even creates doubts about the recruitment of the employees in the Health Department. “Government has framed criteria for the contribution of GP Fund, that norms seem to have been violated and the Funds Organization has been cheated as well,” letter reads.

        After the scam came  to fore, the Department of Health after initial investigation attached 20 employees including 4 employees of CMO office Bandipora, six each from Hajan and Bandipora Block and four of Gurez block.

Four employees of CMO office Bandipora include Junior Assistant Shafeeqa, Senior Assistant, Ishtiyaq Ahmad Parsee, Head X Ray Tech, Mohammad Rafiq Nasir and Head Pharmacist, Mohammad Iqbal lone.

The six employees of Block Medical Office Hajin include BMO Hajin Dr Tariq Hassan, Two Senior Assistants, Sajad Hussain and Ali Mohammad Shalbaf, Two Junior Assistants Abdul Majeed Bhat and Masooda Begum and Health Inspector Mohammad  Yousuf.

The six officials of  Bandipora  Block BMO Dr. Syed-ur-Rehman, Nodal Officer, Dr. Masrat Iqbal, Senior Theatre technician, Fayaz Ahmad and three Junior Assistants, Nazir Ahmad, Javeeda Begum and Mohammad Ayoub Lone and four Employees of  Gurez block Including BMO Gurez Dr. Tahira Nazir, Senior Assistant, Mohammad Yaqoob Nasir, Pharmacist, Mohammad Yaseen and Junior Assistant Farooq Ahmad. However, the attachment order was modified within few hours, thereby cancelling the attachment order of three BMOs. However, they were asked to extend full cooperation to enquiry Committee.

After the initial investigation the Crime Branch has taken over the investigation and has registered FIR in the matter.

Meanwhile the locals have expressed satisfaction over the registration of FIR and have hoped that investigation will take place  on fast track basis and in a time bound manner so that the facts are revealed to the public and the guilty are punished.