Baramulla: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a charge sheet before the Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Baramulla, against two retired education officials for allegedly misappropriating over ₹27 lakh from scholarship funds meant for Gujjar, Bakerwal, and Pahari-speaking students in the Chandanwari Education Zone of district Baramulla.
The accused, Abdul Rashid Mir (then Zonal Education Officer, Chandanwari) and Bashir Ahmad Lone (then Junior Assistant in the same office), have been booked under sections 5(1)(c), 5(1)(d) read with 5(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, Samvat 2006, and sections 468, 471, 201, and 120-B of the RPC.
The case stems from a complaint titled Ghulam Qadir Mir vs. Education Zone Boniyar, forwarded through the State Vigilance Commission, which alleged large-scale embezzlement of scholarship funds meant for marginalized students in Baramulla. During verification, the ACB substantiated the allegations, revealing that the officials had diverted funds in connivance with each other by inflating student rolls and adding fictitious names in official records.
Subsequent investigation revealed that during the academic years 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12, the accused manipulated acquittance registers, inserted non-existent beneficiaries, and inflated the actual number of students to fraudulently obtain and divert government funds. A total of approximately ₹27 lakh was misappropriated, including ₹23.15 lakh obtained through inflation of beneficiary rolls.
On the basis of these findings, three separate FIRs (No. 19/2018, 20/2018, and 21/2018) were registered against different officials of three education zones in Baramulla. The current charge sheet pertains specifically to the Chandanwari zone.
The accused were produced before the court and subsequently granted bail. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for July 15, 2025.
