JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Police Crime Branch has registered five cases against 16 individuals for their alleged involvement in multi-crore job, visa, and document frauds, as well as embezzlement of substantial government funds, officials said on Sunday.
The accused include senior executives of a Chandigarh-based company, several J-K government officials, and a lawyer, who reportedly defrauded more than 50 people, the officer added.
The FIRs were filed at the Crime Branch (Economic Offences Wing) Police Station. One case involved top executives of Chandigarh-based Messrs Saphire, including owner Jass Bajwa.
The police action followed a complaint from Samba resident Prem Nath, who alleged that he was cheated of Rs 17.09 lakh in a visa fraud by the company’s employees, Senior Superintendent of Police (Crime), Jammu, Benam Tosh, said. The FIR also named the company’s manager Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, counsellor Gagan, refund-in-charge Devinder Singh, and authorised signatory Shalika.
In a separate major job scam, a case was registered against Choudhary Mushtaq, a resident of Rajouri, for allegedly duping 41 individuals of Rs 1.43 crore by promising jobs in the Territorial Army and providing fake appointment letters, Tosh said.
Samba residents Hem Raj and Kavya Nayyar were booked for allegedly cheating Avinash Singh from Bhaderwah, Doda, of Rs 18.55 lakh by offering a fake managerial position at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Katra, the officer added.
Several officials of Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited in Ramban’s Batote were also booked for forging an executive engineer’s signature post-retirement and withdrawing large sums from the government body, Tosh said. This action followed a court direction based on an application by retired executive engineer Shakti Singh.
Additionally, an FIR was registered against three individuals, including a lawyer, following a complaint by Nasir Ali of Poonch, who alleged they forged an affidavit in a compensation case, the SSP said.
