Ex-commissioner, 11 officers booked in Roshni land scam

Former Pulwama Deputy Commissioner, Meraj Kakroo along with 11 other officers were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The central agency alleges that they granted ownership of government land to few locals against the law.

Srinagar: Former Pulwama Deputy Commissioner, Meraj Kakroo along with 11 other officers were booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Roshni land scam. According to the CBI, Kakroo and other officers had given illegal ownership of the government land to a few locals.

The CBI said the land belongs to Ghulam Ahmad Pandit, Ghulam Nabi Naiko, Muhammad Amin Pandit and Farhat Pandit, Abdul Majeed Sheikh and Ghulam Rasool Wani. According to the CBI, Kakroo and other officers allegedly granted them property rights illegally.

The Roshni Act was enacted in 2001 during the former National Conference government's tenure in Jammu and Kashmir. However, during the BJP government, Ankur Sharma, a lawyer from Jammu province, had filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking annulment of the act.

The court declared the scheme as unconstitutional and sought a detailed report on the government land transferred under the Act, and ordered the CBI to investigate the matter.

The Roshni Act was repealed during the tenure of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Satyapal Malik after which the administration directed the Finance Department last year to repeal the Roshni Act within a month.

During the DDC election campaign, the BJP had made the Roshni land scam the main subject of its campaign and targeted the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party over the issue.