Srinagar: Two days ago, three Superintendents of Police (SPs) were shifted from the Anti Corruption Bureau and repatriated to the J&K Home Department. They include Abdul Wahid Shah, Mohammad Rashid and Rakesh Kumar. But it was the shifting of Shah, who served the SP headquarters at the Agency, that prompted former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti defining it as a nexus between 'corrupt and the powerful' to scuttle the ongoing probe.
Last week, the agency booked two senior officers of the multi-crore Srinagar Smart City project for corruption and possessing disproportionate assets. On January 10, it also raided the residences of the duo Sajid Yousuf Bhat, chief financial officer and Zahoor Ahmad Dar, executive engineer of Srinagar Smart City Limited.
ETV Bharat spoke to several key officials on the procedure involved in the transfer of officials to find out whether the allegations hold water.
The procedure to transfer police officials to the anti-graft body is based on deputation as it falls under the administrative control of the J&K Government’s General Administration Department.
The transfer to the ACB is not an overnight decision and requires multiple clearances from vital institutions including Raj Bhawan. The ACB falls under the ambit of J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
The agency rechristened from the Vigilance Organisation J&K under the Governor's rule in 2018 to Directorate of Anti-corruption Bureau draws staff from Police as well as civil administration.
For deputing police officials, it requires the consent from the J&K Home Department.
Records suggest that the repatriation of the three senior officials to the Home Department from the agency was long overdue as their stay exceeded the three year term. Also, none of them were part of any major ongoing probes like Smart City, sources said.
Like Abdul Waheed Shah, who was the Superintendent of Police ACB (headquarters), which is more of an administrative position, was appointed in the agency before 2019.
The investigations are carried out by Superintendent of Police (SP) rank officials, who head an ACB police station. The agency has seven police –four in Jammu and three in Kashmir.
The case related to the Srinagar Smart City Project is being pursued in a police station in Kashmir which has jurisdiction over Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal districts.
“The SPs directly report to the Director. An SP-rank official along with his team is investigating the Smart City Project while the SP headquarters had no role in the case except for briefing the media,” a senior J&K Police official who is privy to the process told ETV Bharat.
On January 10, Shah briefed the media about the booking of two senior officials of Smart City Project and raids carried out by the Agency at seven places.
Another official said there was no question of ill intent as projected as none of the SP rank officials who were shunted out, was heading the police station seized of the high-profile probe. “He (Shah) had a different assignment. It was the duty of Director ACB to brief the media and instead he (Shah) was assigned to read the statement to the press,” he added.
“The transfer and probe are two separate issues. The transfer was long overdue but the timing is coincidental.” Shah stayed in the Agency for more than five years now and was not involved per se in the investigations, the senior official reiterated.
The investigation into the Smart City project is going into multiple issues including the misappropriation of government assets besides the corrupt practices of officials involved. The probe will also go into allegations of selling of Devri stones, iron grills, path tiles etc in open markets instead of storing them in the concerned departments.
The rules require the material to be deposited at the concerned stores of the engineering departments or their disposal as per the required procedure. Additionally, the use of substandard material in the works along the city’s Foreshore Road Nishat for cycle track, footpath etc is also under scrutiny.
Another official said that they are ‘broadening’ the scope of the investigations and may question officials involved in the project. This includes the officials who had served in the Project and are posted at different places now.
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