Srinagar, April 2: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a chargesheet in a corruption case related to an alleged illegal commercial construction in Srinagar, naming five officials of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and one private beneficiary, officials said.
The chargesheet was filed in connection with FIR No. 11/2020 registered at Police Station ACB Srinagar under provisions of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and the Ranbir Penal Code, and has been presented before the Court of Additional Special Judge Anti-Corruption Srinagar.
Those named in the chargesheet include former SMC officials Choudary Mehraj-Din Bhuja and Showkat Hussain Hamdani, both then Ward Officers, Nisar Ahmad Rah and Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, then Building Inspectors, and Mudasir Hussain Banday, then Chief Executive Officer of SMC.
A private individual, Mohammad Abdullah Dar of Rajbagh, has also been named as a beneficiary in the case.
The case relates to the construction of a four-storey commercial complex, identified as “Abdullah Shopping Plaza,” at Kursoo Rajbagh in Srinagar.
According to ACB officials, the structure was raised under the cover of permission granted for a residential house, with allegations that officials misused their positions and entered into a criminal conspiracy to confer undue benefit on the beneficiary.
The development is significant as it highlights scrutiny of building permissions and alleged irregularities in urban construction within Srinagar, an issue that has drawn repeated attention in recent years.
Investigators said the findings were based on oral and documentary evidence, which, according to the agency, substantiated the allegations against the accused.
Officials said that prosecution sanction had been obtained from the competent authority before filing the chargesheet.
The matter will now be taken up for judicial determination, with the next hearing scheduled for May 11, 2026. KNT]
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