Srinagar: The Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch Kashmir has filed a chargesheet in a major fake jobs and land allotment scam, uncovering a wide-ranging fraud that targeted unemployed youth and economically weak locals in Srinagar.
According to officials, the chargesheet in FIR No. 54/2023 was filed in the court of the 4th Additional Munsiff, Srinagar, under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC against Fouzia Afzal, daughter of Mohammad Afzal Magray, a resident of Rehmatullah Colony, Sector-B, Fruit Mandi, Parimpora, Srinagar.
The case stemmed from a formal complaint alleging that the accused, a Class-IV employee posted in the office of the Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, indulged in criminal misconduct by issuing fake allotment orders for shops and residential plots. The investigation revealed that the forged documents carried fabricated signatures of the Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinagar along with a fake seal of the District Magistrate, Srinagar.
Investigators found that accused Fouzia Afzal allegedly duped victims of lakhs of rupees by falsely promising shops at Jehangir Chowk, five-marla plots at Bemina, and appointment orders for Junior Assistant posts in various government departments. To lend credibility to the scam, she supplied forged allotment orders and fabricated appointment documents to the victims.
The probe further established that the accused acted in her private capacity after office hours, impersonating senior officials from multiple government offices including the Deputy Commissioner’s Office, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, and the Divisional Commissioner’s Office, Kashmir.
EOW officials said the accused is a “habitual offender” with multiple FIRs already registered against her at different police stations in Srinagar district. Several additional complaints are currently under investigation by Crime Branch Kashmir.
Following these revelations, Fouzia Afzal was placed under suspension, and a departmental inquiry has recommended her premature retirement under Article 226(2) of the J&K Service Conduct Rules, as per an inquiry report dated October 14, 2023.
The Economic Offences Wing confirmed that the investigation in the instant case has been concluded as proved, and the chargesheet has been submitted for judicial adjudication. (KNT)
