Srinagar: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) lodged a case against a government official on Saturday for allegedly taking bribes from the representatives of a car dealership for recommending its vehicles.
The ACB verified the allegation that as the nodal officer under the Mumkin scheme for Kupwara and Bandipora districts, Shabnam Arif Mir, the then Assistant Director, Employment, demanded and accepted bribes from officials of the Himalayan Motors showroom at the Tengpora bypass here for processing and recommending their vehicles under the scheme during 2021-2022, a spokesperson of the agency said.
“The verification has revealed that under the Mumkin scheme, the applications of eligible candidates were to be placed before the District Level Implementation Committee (DLIC) by the nodal officer after verifying the credentials of the applications as per the laid down norms.
“But Shabnam Arif Mir, being the nodal officer for Bandipora and Kupwara districts, demanded Rs 10,000 per vehicle as bribe/commission from officials of Himalayan Motors, Tengpora, Srinagar, for recommending their vehicles,” the ACB spokesperson said in a statement.
The verification also revealed that the public servant demanded and accepted bribes to the tune of Rs 4 lakh from a sales consultant, including Rs 1.39 lakh received through e-transactions into the account numbers provided by her to the officials of Himalayan Motors.
Following an investigation, a case under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Mir, two officials of the car dealership — Sumeer Pandita and Junaid Bashir Beigh — and others.
Searches were carried out by the ACB at multiple locations in Bandipora, Kupwara and Srinagar during which various incriminating documents were seized, the spokesperson said.
